dancing with reality

If you don't follow Street Art Utopia online, I suggest you rectify the situation immediately. 

What I love most about it is all the little instances of people creatively playing with their surroundings in a public way, anonymously providing passers-by with both a smile and a new way of looking at the world. 

Imagine if we were all like that—always looking for creative ways to interact with our environment, turning eyesores into objects of beauty. Just imagine. And imagine if we did it not for money or glory or whatever, but just for the joy of having done it—of having improved the world around us. 

There's a tension there, I know, because artists need to eat and the best way to be able to eat as an artist is to build up name-brand recognition. So even anonymous street artists take pictures of their work and upload them sometimes, not just to increase visibility but also to find an audience that'll support ongoing art-making. 

That tension has to be there, though. It has to be maintained. We have to fight the power that would make everything be about power, money, and ego. 

That tension is why I moved away from ever signing my paintings and drawings, and it is why I mightily struggle against the desire to actually figure out the internets, so I can draw more and more eyes to this blog, my work, and me. 

On the one hand, I'd like to get paid for all the work I do. 
On the other hand... down with the man!

Capitalism and altruism in a never-ending tango. Never-ending because, you know, reality. 

Still.

I hope to continue to do what I can to affirm this tension, and to honor others who do the same.

Like, for example, this guy...