The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World
As writer Jeffrey Kastner observed: “Attention to the world is the proper vocation not just of the artist but of anyone who imagines it as a place worthy of preservation.”
Rob Walker • The Art of Noticing: 131 Ways to Spark Creativity, Find Inspiration, and Discover Joy in the Everyday
Like our own imagination, art can wander off, seeking out the edges, the borderlands, the mysteries. Indeed, this autonomy is art’s power and part of its emotional appeal. But this very ability to separate from everyday material life may also make art impotent in trying to shape the world from which it has escaped. At most it can be a nudge or a su
... See moreGeoff Mulgan • Another World Is Possible: How to Reignite Social and Political Imagination

The function of art is also clear: Artists propose new ways of doing things and perceiving the world, which if successful, become conventional.
What is Culture? Part Four: Conventions
