do artists truly owe us anything?

Anyone who has been actively on the internet these past weeks has most likely been oversaturated with videos of the 2026 Coachella music festival. I myself have seen a number of short, colourful and loud videos of artists and influencers all over my social media feed. And while I may have much to say about the concept of paying thousands of dollars to camp in the dust for three days, I would much rather talk about Justin Bieber’s Weekend 1 performance.

Admittedly, I do not have thousands of dollars, nor am I a Justin Bieber fan. I do have a dust allergy and an Iphone, so my knowledge of the performance is mostly the result of scrolling through dozens of clips posted online. None of this matters of course, as I do not need to see the twenty minutes of him singing along to his old music videos and sing along’s on YouTube (part of a ninety minute performance mind you) to determine that we now have a new poster child for the “lazy artist” society insists on stamping on every other month.

Art, muddled with entertainment, has always been subjective. While some may value the high production of a performance like Sabrina Carpenter’s, others may value the intimacy and self-reference of a performance like Justin Bieber’s. Both, no matter how different, figure as artistic expressions. The issue lies when the fact of entertainment, the reality of purpose becomes more valuable than the art, the expression.

All comments I’ve seen of women not being able to get away with performing as he did seem irrelevant, as he did not get away with anything. MANY seem to believe that Justin Bieber “owed” the audience a performance closer to Sabrina’s. But did he?

When has art been ever valued on the standard of it being universally palatable? Of it being pleasing to all members of the public? An artist should not question whether or not what they do is of value. Their impact is not in their hands, therefore not part of their job. Similarly, if history has taught us anything it is that the world is an extremely unreliable critic.

Think about it. Has every piece of art you’ve learnt about not been met with some push back? Has every great artist that pushed boundaries not been deemed as lazy? Now I’m not suggesting we equal Justin Bieber to Dadaism artist Marcel Duchamp, whose art includes a reproduction of the Mona Lisa with a moustache and goatee, but I am suggesting that an artist is a poet and a poet is a fool. Let artists play the fool.

So much of art is met with “Even I could do that!” by individuals who will never pick up a brush other to paint their living room walls white. Art is not meant to please everyone. It is not meant for a larger audience. Art should be met with skepticism, with confusion, with laughter and even with disappointment. No art should be universally palatable.

The day art becomes universally palatable is the day freedom ceases to exist. The day propaganda and art are not distinguishable. Art should not have a blueprint, for we all know who would be in control of said blueprint…

As loss for those who paid thousands of dollars for the glitz and glam that comes with camping in the dust for three days - a win for art.

Love,

Anastasia

Thank you for supporting the time and effort I put into my writing. It truly means the world to have you here.

If you’d like more day-to-day updates, feel free to follow me on instagram! And in case you missed my last essay, find it right here: