Maybe you're simply reminding people that artistic work has its own dignity and value: It doesn't need to be commodified by the marketplace to be worthwhile.
Absolutely. It has a value of its own, and sticking to that value is going to bring a satisfaction that you can't get elsewhere.
I have a line in there where I say that artists need to be able to retreat to those bohemias halfway between the library and the slums, or something. It's nice if a culture can provide the spaces where somebody can do these kinds of work that matter, instead of putting pressure on them to live at an unattainable standard of living.
When the National Endowment for the Arts was set up, one of the lines in the legislation was that a great nation cannot call into being an artist or a humanist. But a nation can provide the support without which no artist can survive. That's an ongoing question.
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scott.timberg@latimes.com
Hyde will be at the Hammer Museum at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
