We'll see the Big Bang again

Here is an evening. You hear Mort talk. He is a pioneer of electronic music from 60's, an early contributor to CalArts, and an incessant musical experimenter. You hear him say that if he'd do it all again, he would be an Economics major. Not because as an artist (or a scientist even) you need to know how to manage your image and make money, but because, in order to understand the world as it is, the people as they are, you have to understand Commerce. This has been true through the times, commerce has moulded Arts. Now with barrier to Arts low (many can shoot films and upload, far too many can write and publish, and far, far too many can mix music and dj) and attention splintered into niches, commerce seems everywhere in Arts. This is not a bad thing. As one of the artists remarked, we are in a primordial state, waiting for the moment a new notion of currency is invented that will have as much impact on the world as the original invention of coins had. Someone said we will see the Big Bang again and the conversation turned to Marshall McLuhan (medium is the message), Angela Davis, and the state of Iceland. Some time during the evening, Sun had set, lights had come on, and when I reached for my wine glass, it was cold. Some evenings are like that.