As I habitually walk by this building and its unintentional, yet clear message, I am struck by how well it represents the current economic state. This former sandwich shop storefront used to advertise to the outside world new and up-and-coming art, instead of the fact that, in our increasingly capitalist world, art and society itself are now being sold. Television screens that formerly displayed video art and independent films now lie below these words, blank, as abandoned as the store they remain within. Walking past this store and further down Thayer street, I observe even more abandoned stores and building projects. The windows of the café next door are now covered in butcher paper and the burger store, halted in the middle of construction, still claims to be ‘The New Kid on the Block’. Although they illustrate the same economic stresses, these places do not speak to the deeper cultural consequences of the capitalism of today. Since everything is available for sale, even art and society itself, the art that went with this shop couldn’t avoid being turned into a commodity. But at the same time, the place is empty, devoid of the very same art and society it proclaims is for sale. Its continued abandonment speaks to the confidence of people in the economy today. This place has been empty for months, even though it both proclaims to sell art and society and is a prime location on the main commercial strip next to Brown University. As a result, the elements of art and society that were once displayed as well as the place itself lie silent.
 by Jessica Nowlin
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The Sanity Inspector said on May 13, 2009 9:13 AM
People need art, no question. The challenge for the artist is to prove to the public that they need his or her art, specifically.
A.M. said on November 27, 2009 12:17 PM
I disagree that it is the responsibility of the artist to prove to the public the need for art. The artist's responsibility lies in making art, in being seers, visionaries, commentators, producers, intermediaries, etc. and nothing more. They should be left to make art just 'cause. It is society's responsibility to educate the public, to impress upon it the need for art as well as to cultivate within the hearts and minds of its people an appreciation for art. Traditionally this responsibility fell upon a society's greatest institutions-it's museums, universities, cultural centers, churches, etc.