The arts teach us a thousand things. And no table, chair, nor piece of cloth is made without a master making it first. The artisan, the weaver, hell even the IKEA designer is no doubt pretty amazing at it, Functional after all is an aesthetic itself and an important one too. What’s my relationship with the arts? At the moment I’d say one of appreciator rather than patron. I buy little in the way of music, though ironically I still am looking to put mine out to sell. Digital, unless the funds are going straight to the artist doesn’t count. Buying a tape on Bandcamp does. Having an Audible subscription doesn’t. Books I suppose I buy regularly.
The sad state of consumerism, we are getting increasingly stiffed by it these days. You spend the same, sometimes more, and get absolutely fuck all for it. A digital music collection is worth exactly the same as the terabyte brick it’s stored on. Good luck selling that on Ebay in 20 years. But I want to contribute, I want to create. The Thorn is my written attempt at that. It is a laborious process, albeit a very fun and rewarding one. Art takes time. Mastery takes time. My drawings come to little, but maybe I’m going about it all the wrong way.