Ph: You have much larger paintings for sale, right?

 

F:   Yes! They’re typically six or seven feet long, big and bold, and I ship them rolled up in sturdy cardboard tubes.

 

Ph: Why should I buy one?

 

F:   Oh, shoot, honestly you’re the last person I thought I would have to convince.

 

Ph: Well, I mean, I like your art, but it’s kind of expensive. Also, it requires the dedication of a massive amount of wall space. Why not just buy one of your smaller reproductions on high-quality paper? They look good! And I’m more hip to spending a few hundred bucks than a few thousand.

 

F:   Some people buy original artwork because they want to support an artist.

 

Some people are simply into real shit, like solid wood furniture, live music, and unfiltered honey.

 

Of course, there’s the investors. That’s one thing I can offer: my art is going to be worth more one day. I’ll actually buy it back right now for a dollar more than you bought it from me, so voilà.

 

Ph: Hmm.

 

F:   Then there are the seekers. They’re looking for a fresh and new perspective on the world, on what has not yet come.

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It’s a view that only the artists of the day have to share.

 

We artists venture ahead on the path. We go up to the craggy ridge, scouting while the caravan with the horses pauses in the canyon to adjust. We bring back news of what lies ahead.

 

“I have peered past the precipice,” we say. “It is excellent. You should come, too. The grass is greener. The soil is more fertile. There are fruit trees and one can eat mangoes off the ground. The flowers are lovely and the moss is so soft and if you can tolerate bee stings I’ll show you a delectable treat.”

 

We experiment, we take chances, we break things. We poke into territories others fear to chart, and we pioneer.

 

“Ice-hole swimming is worthwhile,” we report. “If you drill holes in the side of a tube and blow on one end, it makes pretty sounds. Zaps on your tongue from a nine-volt battery feel good. The future is bright, and you’re going to be okay, and you’re going to be okay, and you’re going to be okay.”

 

As an artist, I am building a new, different lens for world-peeping. I offer it as a service to humanity and to the grand collaborative computation.

 

Of course, there’s still plenty to process in the old stuff. You won’t hear any judgment from me if you want to buy a print of a Cézanne painting and put it up in your bathroom.

 

Just know that I am standing on the shoulders of Cézanne. And Mondrian. Et Marcel Duchamp, who was absolutely one of my heroes in the practice of drawing a frame around the world.

 

In my art, I am sharing with you what further there is that I have seen. Having the genuine thing on your wall can be a portal.

 

Ph: Yes. Please take my money.

 

F:   (Transfers funds from left side of bank account to right side.)