Exclusivity and community.

Well it seems that at a recent Ted Talks… a composer, who I respect, talked about the importance of turning away from the cliché of the inward looking artist to join the greater “community" to great acclaim.  Did I mention he took a little time off his 1 year residency from American Academy in Rome to do this? Oh did I mention that the Ted community features such regulars guys as the president of Microsoft. Am I missing something here. What community are we talking about?

In a similar vein films based on true stories may win awards for their portrayal of victimized characters and communities who then never see a dime from the production. This is also true for those academics who build careers off studies of the poor and give nothing back. Moving up and out is in this sense is your one way ticket to exclusivity.  Just as in academia the more important you are the less you teach. As a composer your commission price goes up and you get more performances, and featured as a speaker at conventions. 

Is that the state of the art of our artistic communities?

The real world is merely the “other”. 

The top down approach is the disconnect of our time. As the choir preaches to the choir, the status quo is maintained. Nothing changes.