Don't despair. There is hope for the artist who wants to sell art without giving up their sovereignty, their uniqueness, their artistic soul. Sure it's true the machine manages to absorb, transform and reproduce every trend, innovation and movement within the aesthetic realm. And yes, there seems to be no more avant-garde. For avant-garde to exist, art must be going somewhere. And really, when was the last time you saw, heard, read or experienced something truly unexpected and unique?

There are two approaches left in response to this sad state of affairs.

One: Keep your head down and keep making art in hopes that someday all the efforts of all the artists will somehow culminate in weakening the machine, breaking it down bit by bit, until it collapses or is transformed from within. One day we'll all wake up in a beautiful fantasy that has usurped the reality we've been imprisoned in. Artists tell beautiful lies that come true and all that.

Or two: Begin to live right now, through sheer force of will, as if we'd already won. Accept that the artist is no longer a special kind of person. I know. That hurts to read. But seriously, watching all these artists dance and jerk around with all their strings connected to the money machine - pretending to be the single most amazing, alive thing in the Universe - is getting pathetic. The Situationists offered an alternative viewpoint worth considering - the artist isn't a special kind of person. Rather, everyone is a special kind of artist - from dockworkers to doctors. They called this principle the suppression and realization of art. Give up your holy pedestal - built from ego and self-delusion - and let everyone's unique expression have its due.

Personally, I prefer the latter. But whichever we choose, there are some rules to follow.

1. No more issues. Sexism, politics, environment and other franchise issues are distractions keeping us trapped in the real issue - the machine subsumes all issues and transforms them into thought commodities to be bought and sold. You may be waking people up with your issues art, but they're waking up into another nightmare. And neither of you knows it.
2. Art is part of the problem. It's time to stop mocking the stupidity and injustice of the so-called square world from our special arts pedestal. Art is part of the problem. It's worth saying twice.
3. Making a living is important, but what we really want is to make a life. Whatever we do, and no matter how badly we compromise, never mistake art for life. Art is brief, life is long. Be ready to move, change, evolve and never settle down. Live through as many arts as you can, but make the art of life your priority. If you can, make your life better than your art.
4. Get serious. Putrid morbidity, cynicism, trendy post-modern frivolity, whiny liberal victim cults, stoic exhaustion, and ironic conformity aren't serious enough. Sure, they may elicit laughter, but it's corrosive and pathetic laughter. Not the kind of laughter that heals. And certainly not the kind of laughter that changes anything.

Joe Malik is a jaded, ornery, "power to the people type" that can't help but comment on all the stupid and or questionable stuff he sees within the arts community. The Volcano doesn't always agree with what he says, they just like to stir the pot.