So many things came to mind today. I wanted to post an entry and I have tried to narrow down a topic. However, I am hoping right now, this very second, my typing fingers are going to tap a path to some kind of thesis. My mind is whirling like a mental patient running from the orderly. Eventually, I will fall into a submissive heap.
It all started about 48 hours ago. I was reading art blogs. I mean the art (STAR) blogs. Somewhere I read that the art world is collapsing. Oh, I think that was Nancy S. Baker’s “Amuse Bouche” entry at Tire Shop. After reading, I felt bad for THEM. Not really.
I moved on and read much more. Since I am such a fan and love the work of James Kalm (Loren Munk), I read a few of his past articles in the Brooklyn Rail. One titled “The Ethics of Aesthetics”. kept my attention. I thought it was interesting while being very humorous. I had to laugh because after reading this I wondered why I bothered to keep reading. After all, I am not part of that society. I am not even close to a place in which any of this information is really relevant to me or my art life. Yet, I still peeked in like a voyeur.
I was on a roll and didn’t want to stop. I felt like I was a party crasher. So what! I am not a part of their world but I am going to sneak into the party. Shhhhhhh. I am small. Maybe nobody will notice. I ventured on to read a post by Sharon Butler. In the post titled “me-me-me-careerism-vs-new-generosity”, she speaks about how the economic crisis will force a shift in the art world zeitgeist. To sum it up, she predicts there will be a lot less ME and a lot more US when it comes to art production. It was at this point I felt vindicated. At least, I didn’t feel like such an alien invader. I too have suggested this thought in a number of my posts. Like I have said, the pendulum swings. It will never stop.
OK. So it is time to wrangle in this flying fish of a post. As I hold on to the rod and lean forward to bring in the catch, I ask why you do what you do if you aren’t a part of the “real” art world. I ask myself this all the time. Why do I bother? My work isn’t in a gallery that will be reviewed or critiqued by a world class critic or even one of the art star bloggers. The downfall of the art world has no effect on me at all. I am not a player. I am not a “me, me, me careerism” kind of art girl and my art “generosity” is not going to be a new thing at all. My decades of art work have been far more about giving than receiving. I guess I am in style now.
The swinging pendulum doesn’t matter to me at all. So what is the point? Why the hell do I do all this stuff anyway?

"Outside looking in."
I know you relate.
Hey, there are more of us out here than there are in there!