Grandmother, parts 2308 - 2311

 2308. I understand that the above examination of the exact words used in the conversations between our friend and the resort patrons may seen a bit didactic, but it points to the crux of the transformation going on in Coromo. All the words like “pictures, paintings, oils, works,” refer to the things he did that were hanging on the wall. But the word, “work,” referred to Coromo himself, his identity as a person. It was this word, all by itself, that elevated Coromo to a level of equality with the resort guests. 

 2309. He was obviously not their equal in the economic sense, but he was aware that he was equal to them in some intellectual way. At this stage of his evolution it had not dawned on him that having one’s work made him superior to them and an object of envy in their eyes.

 2310. The resort guests, although they had money and connections, were educated and informed, almost to a man lacked any meaningful work. And I feel the need to be specific about this. Being a corporate lawyer does not qualify, being a doctor or even an important surgeon is of no account. Only creative work matters in this peculiar age. Why this is so  I have no idea, but artists find themselves at the top of the social pyramid in the twenty-first century for some inexplicable reason. 

2311. This being so, all art endeavor is first of all a social phenomena, and only secondly an occupation or an avocation. In the end the actual objects of art themselves are not really of any consequence to anyone, but are only important as a grease of social interaction. Art exhibits are first and foremost social events. Coromo was finding this out by accident, and although it had no effect on his paintings, it transformed his personality.