right-thinking people

I wanted to hate Dave Hickey. How dare he not be outraged, how dare he claim art should be recognized as merely a frivolous pastime! But then I would be one of them. The problem with rising up over perceived insults is that you get so busy yelling and screaming that you can't hear the debate over the noise. Isn't this what art is all about- the debate? Why make things unless they can spur an interesting discussion. Let's face it, art will never cure cancer and probably never lead to world peace-even a shoe manufacturer and a roofer hold a more important place in the realm of human survival. But the arts (everything "frivolous") express a deeper human need for more. We've mastered the day to day survival, so now what? I like to be mad about something, I like my blood to boil a little everyday- it's that kind of righteous indignation that keeps life interesting. So maybe art is a little frivolous, but when we start drawing those lines we limit ourselves. It's better to think of everything as a little frivolous and make your choices from there.