Exposing the Myth
of the Starving Artist

By S.R. Lavin,
aka Sholom

In an age of crass, over-generalized media images, the elite artists and the moguls of industry share the same m.o., and many artists become millionaires and live lavish lives of decadent splendor. Meanwhile, we have the so-called starving artist, whose work has no “sex appeal” or commercial value but supposedly offer a cosmic ride through the portals of being and non-being, by this “cutting edge” avant-garde purveyor of conceptual truth. 

Am I the only person who’s noticed that this starving artist usually isn’t starving?

Remember, John Lennon wrote “Imagine there’s no heaven…no possessions”…etc.  while he and Yoko amassed a two billion dollar empire of real estate, herds of beef cattle, and art galleries. Art generally is just a way to define the impossible intricacies and complicated conditions (sometimes twisted) under which life and business is conducted on this planet. “The rich get richer and the poor get … the leftovers.”

People deserve to know when they’re being conned with pabulum and when they’re getting fleeced to pay for the lavish lifestyles of media brats.
Temptation suggests a passive course of action. Ignore the so-called starving artist’s claims, tolerate the nonsense, buy the CD, watch the Today Show, and trade in your apple pie for a slab from fat from the high hog…

I say NO. Now is the time to step up to the plate and boycott all artistic endeavors and creative work. Don’t go to movies or buy CD’s or DVD’s. Do not attend rock concerts! Find alternative ways to fulfill your artistic libido by turning on to Bella Bartok … now there’s music with no chance of disrupting your fragile ego. 

If you are a jogger, and listen to CD’s while you run all over town, choose something which has no substance, like “the sounds of mother wolves nursing their pups.” (I’ve heard that CD and it’s definitely heart-wrenching as well as unpopular.)

Truly, we run the risk of being bored to death without artistic genius to point the way, but rock stars and movie stars, football players and artists who “earn” twenty million dollars for a piece of sculpture are thriving on their unjust wealth.