Socialite is a puppet I don’t see very often. I suspect I am much too common for her. She likes to hobnob with the rich and powerful. There are not many of them in my circle of friends. Naturally, I was very surprised when Socialite came and told me about this wonderful short film she had seen called “Life of an artist.” She immediately launched into dissecting the story line: “It’s fantastic how the director captured the essence of torment. You see the artist’s rapid decline from self-confidence to a picture of misery. You must see this film”

“I know the film” I said.

“It’s sad how artists are reliant on viewers opinion, isn’t it?” she continued. “People just don’t understand good art anymore! They are ignorant folks. Did you see the two characters that just walked past the picture? What are they doing in an exhibition for goodness sake? They obviously have no idea how much pain goes into creating unique artworks!

“I don’t know. To me it looks very much like instant-gratification-artist. A one shot wonder! He had one good inspirational idea and he immediately took the result to the market in the hope of selling and making money. Artists need a bit more stamina, don’t you think?” I responded. “He can’t expect people to go all gooey over everything he hangs on the wall just because he wears a tunic like Paul Klee. Isn’t that a bit presumptuous?”

“I totally disagree. He did a lot of soul-searching before he had his inspiration. That’s very obvious in the sequence where he walks around the room. No, no, his inspiration did not come out of nowhere! I clearly see it was the audience that ground him down!”

“What I don’t understand, the two art-lovers at the end commended him for his work. But this wasn’t  good enough for him. He is obviously slanted towards the commercial. Honestly, what kind of reaction is that… pulling the work off the wall and tearing it up only because they don’t want to buy it! Isn’t it more important that they  liked it?”

“Tssst” Socialite threw her head over her shoulder. Obviously she was piqued. “What do you know about the delicate soul of an artist? I should have known one can’t discuss films with you!”

Mhm, could I be so wrong? What do you see in the film? In case you haven’t seen it, here is the link Life of an Artist

“I should do an interview with L’Artiste!” Socialite said. “He is the only one who can shed light on this matter. Do you have any questions I should ask him?”