Intergalactic Summit

No. As a Federal citizen, I recognise that artists emerge from all cultures and all civilizations equally.

A slight majority of well-known artists emerge from the Gallente Federation, which is not the same thing at all. This happens for a few specific reasons:

Reason 1: It is, put simply, much easier for artists to make a living purely off of making art in the Federation. There are so many official grants and funds for art and artists in the Federation that artists occasionally find themselves pulling from multiple funding sources by mistake. This isn't to mention the vast number of wealthy private individuals within the Federation's borders that will act as patron to talented aspiring artists purely out of their own appreciation for art. Heck, occasionally, you'll even get wealthy patrons who have no artistic appreciation whatsoever - they're just altruistic. The somewhat unflattering stereotype of an impoverished immigrant being able to come to the Federation live the easy life by making a few random scribbles on a piece of canvas is highly exaggerated, but carries within it a kernel of truth. There's more money in the Federation put aside simply for encouraging art than there is in any other civilization. Only the Empire even approaches the Federation in terms of public and private funding set aside for the arts.

Reason 2: Because of the nature of Federal culture, artists are given more recognition by default. The cult of celebrity is very strong in the Federation, and personal popularity is a powerful motivation for those with artistic pursuits to succeed. In the Federation's high-tech, interconnected, media-infused culture, information about artists can spread very quickly. The concept of the "overnight sensation" may not neccessarily have started in the Federation, but we certainly perfected it. Artists can gain a lot of recognition from a lot of people and they can do it very quickly - far more quickly than in any of the other three empires. I'd argue, in fact, that this can often be a detriment to the artistic process, which is why I would never equate the statement "the Federation produces the majority of well-known artists" to "the Federation produces the best artists." You get a lot of artists diluting their work to appeal to a wider audience - take Alexis DuClare's latest album, for instance, when compared to his earlier work. I've never heard something that sounds so safe and committee-designed in my life.

@Andreux
I agree that if something becomes too organized, mainstream, the core of artistic expression can suffer.

@Isis
While what you're doing sounds very controversial, it is probably closer to true art than a lot of other stuff that's called "art".
Then again, it might all lie in the eye of the beholder, since, from a higher viewpoint, all of life is art.



I still have trouble coming up with a personal definition. Is it creative outpour? Demonstration of unconventional skillfulness? Sincere personal expression? Experimentiing with new ideas?
It feels like art is not a "thing", a subject, but more like a process, since you can attach "the art of" to pretty much anything. What makes any random activity into art? The intention behind it?

I'm not even sure to what degree these are merely rhetorical questions. But the ponderings somewhat humbled me and made me decide that entertainment, despite its somewhat negative connotations and implications of superficiality, can be an art form itself, for is the experiencing of even the most traditional forms of art not entertaining?

And this leads me to the awareness of how the way we decide to view the world might be the most powerful creative power we have, since that is what we take as "real", and we act based on that; thus our actions shape future reality.


P.S.: Just yesterday I acquired a Dragoon and it felt like buying a piece of art. Did you notice the 'ancient-style' motives on the front? The idea to make art like that integral part of the looks of every single unit of a space ship is just awesome. Funny how mass-producing art becomes very acceptable when the original approach is innovative.