http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/04/open-thread-1-art-commerce/ A blog from the Poetry Foundation where contemporary poets debate classic and contemporary poetry from America and around the world. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:02:09 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/04/open-thread-1-art-commerce/#comment-254 Travis Tue, 24 Apr 2007 17:18:15 +0000 http://pf/harriet/?p=143#comment-254 Either way, Paul Simon is terrible. Either way, Paul Simon is terrible.

]]> http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/04/open-thread-1-art-commerce/#comment-253 Kenneth Goldsmith Fri, 20 Apr 2007 20:02:02 +0000 http://pf/harriet/?p=143#comment-253 Actually I think that poetry is extraordinary in that it is a <b>non economy</b> and thus is obliged to take risks that other market-based forms are free from. Think of how many market-drive successful visual artists are not permitted by the market to deviate from their formula. Alas, my great disappointment in the world of poetry is that many poets fall prey to these same pitfalls without any end result. What a waste! In our non-economy we have the great privilege -- and luxury -- of true experimentation; with nary an audience and even more scarcely a buck, we have nothing but freedom. I can't remember the last time I was paid to write poetry. I've never received a royalty check, but things like this blog, my teaching job, readings and lectures are peripheral economic benefits to my practice as a poet. I call this an occupational hazard of what we do. But, oy, the intellectual capital and the street cred I've gained in ten years of this, no amount of money can buy. Actually I think that poetry is extraordinary in that it is a non economy and thus is obliged to take risks that other market-based forms are free from. Think of how many market-drive successful visual artists are not permitted by the market to deviate from their formula. Alas, my great disappointment in the world of poetry is that many poets fall prey to these same pitfalls without any end result. What a waste! In our non-economy we have the great privilege — and luxury — of true experimentation; with nary an audience and even more scarcely a buck, we have nothing but freedom.
I can’t remember the last time I was paid to write poetry. I’ve never received a royalty check, but things like this blog, my teaching job, readings and lectures are peripheral economic benefits to my practice as a poet. I call this an occupational hazard of what we do. But, oy, the intellectual capital and the street cred I’ve gained in ten years of this, no amount of money can buy.

]]> http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/04/open-thread-1-art-commerce/#comment-252 emily warn Fri, 20 Apr 2007 17:29:10 +0000 http://pf/harriet/?p=143#comment-252 Dear Kenneth, Do you believe, like John Berger, that visual art has been diminished by having a market value? What constitutes getting paid? Does teaching poetry in a university pay you to write poetry? Is blogging art, or a chance to overhear a conversation among artists? In Tibetan culture, material well being is a condition necessary for enlightenment. In the West, artists de-value material well being because of what greed has wreaked. But if we didn't have food, shelter, we couldn't write and think. Are you setting up false dichotomies? How unlike you! On one side are you saying poetry and blogging are part of a gift economy (a la Lewis Hyde) whose value lies in an exchange, an encounter that occurs in language, and cannot be put to use. And if you assign the exchange a monetary value, its practitioners go over to the dark side and both they and their exchange are sullied? I think poetry and the marketplace--the worlds of publishing and teaching--mix in much more messy ways, making your dichotomy a false one. Dear Kenneth,
Do you believe, like John Berger, that visual art has been diminished by having a market value? What constitutes getting paid? Does teaching poetry in a university pay you to write poetry? Is blogging art, or a chance to overhear a conversation among artists? In Tibetan culture, material well being is a condition necessary for enlightenment. In the West, artists de-value material well being because of what greed has wreaked. But if we didn’t have food, shelter, we couldn’t write and think.
Are you setting up false dichotomies? How unlike you! On one side are you saying poetry and blogging are part of a gift economy (a la Lewis Hyde) whose value lies in an exchange, an encounter that occurs in language, and cannot be put to use. And if you assign the exchange a monetary value, its practitioners go over to the dark side and both they and their exchange are sullied?
I think poetry and the marketplace–the worlds of publishing and teaching–mix in much more messy ways, making your dichotomy a false one.

]]> http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/04/open-thread-1-art-commerce/#comment-251 J. Bryan Shoup Fri, 20 Apr 2007 17:06:20 +0000 http://pf/harriet/?p=143#comment-251 Wasn't Virgil paid to write the <i>Aeneid</i>? Wasn’t Virgil paid to write the Aeneid?

]]> http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/04/open-thread-1-art-commerce/#comment-250 Brian Hadd Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:08:42 +0000 http://pf/harriet/?p=143#comment-250 Eno used "is" for "becomes" I would propose but still think, Wrong. Dreams mystify necessity I think. <a href="http://www.hoodpublishing.com" rel="nofollow">The Hood Company</a> Eno used “is” for “becomes” I would propose but still think, Wrong. Dreams mystify necessity I think.
The Hood Company

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