Art is Separate from the Artist

Norm Macdonald used to tell a joke about his Uncle Phil who was a very talented man, the proverbial Jack of all Trades. But Uncle Phil complained that because he is good at so many things, people don’t remember him for anything particular. He once took Norm out on a walk in his town, and said:

“You see that barn, Norm? I was the one who built it. But does anybody say that there goes Phil, the barn builder? Nobody Norm, nobody!”

“You see that bakery, Norm? I started that bakery. But does anybody say there goes Phil, the Baker? No!”

“You see that weather balloon, Norm? I was the one who built it. But does anybody say there goes Phil, the weather balloon pioneer? Not one person!”

“But I tell ya Norm, you have sex with one goat, and you are a goat-fucker for life.”

There was a young man named Joe in Uncle Phil’s town who decided to boycott everything that Uncle Phil built after his bestiality came to light. He swore that he’d never use the barn, the bakery or the weather balloon, even though Uncle Phil was long gone and had nothing to do with his former creations.

One day, Joe saw a group of town-folk heading toward the barn. He tried to put sense in them:

‘Are you sure you want to use the barn that the goat-fucker built?’ Joe asked.

‘Well, we are going there to take refuge because there’s a nasty tornado coming tomorrow.’

‘Oh I better find a safe place too.’ Joe nervously mused. ‘But how did you know there’s a tornado coming?’

‘The weather balloon told us.’ And the town-folk continued on their way.

And Joe stood there, confused.

Art is not the Artist representing her true-self. It is her representing her best-self. If the art is good, it influences other art, artists and the broader culture - it becomes an inseparable part of humanity’s stream of consciousness. In doing so, good art necessarily separates from the artist, for it takes its own form, independent from the artist’s. The art of Michael Jackson, Pablo Picasso, Woody Allen and other innumerable morally heinous artists has already influenced the past, the present and the future. Whether we like it or not, we are living in their world. They themselves do not matter.

Relish the barn, the bakery, the weather ballon. Ignore the goat-fucker.