Representational Culture

Can any one individual determine the purpose of art? Can any one institution determine the
purpose of art? Sometimes, i feel, that this idea of collaborative / community practice is
ridiculous, if any artist is to stand up and truly own a work of art, it must contain their message,
artists must make a work of art for themselves, and for an audience that believes in who the artist is. An artist can never be a politician of public space, can never truly be diplomatic about their ideas, can never waver in their beliefs, because without a conviction of concept, a work of art cannot have weight in the public arena. I believe that if you try, as an artist, to consider all of the beliefs of a public that you are striving to produce an artwork for, then you are losing your individuality. Art is not for the people, art is for the educated people. I believe it is, as Jurgen Habermas described, a representational culture in which we dwell, where in fact, it is possible that there are not one, but two passive political parties that rule the public spectrum of ideas, and that the proliferation of commercial mass media in Australia has produced a passive consumer public.