if everybody loves you, and you're able to make lots of money on the free market as an artist, you're not challenging the status quo very much are you?

art is impossible in a market society, because it has to be commodified to exist.

so, you'll hear people say things like "well, if people agreed with them, and liked their art, they'd be able to survive." - and they think that's an argument against the artist, rather than an argument against the market. and, to an extent they're right - it's an anti-artist position, one that is roughly in line with somebody like ayn rand and that rejects the concept of art on it's face.

artists need a way to escape the market, by definition - because if they're actually able to survive in the market without any sort of subsidies, they're not producing anything substantive.

in years past, we solved this problem by having artists seek commissions from the aristocracy. you can imagine i don't like that much, but it's at least better than telling me to go sell a product in order to survive.

i don't need or want wealth, i want enough stability to exist to create. and, we'll let the future determine the value of the product - because the market is incompetent.