Exploitation and the Dragon
of Meaninglessness
in PERMANENT OBSCURITY. An INTERVIEW with Richard Perez by
Rebecca Goodman-Smith
“Meaninglessness.” What
does this mean to you?
That's a big question, and something
I grapple with every day. I think I've reached the age where
I don't know if there's any meaning in anything and living
day to day is something done merely out of habit. We have
elemental human needs that we're required to provide for,
like the need for food, shelter, etc. So, on a practical level,
we work to provide for these basic needs. But "meaning"
lies beyond all this. The desire for meaning is an intellectual
and spiritual need that separates us from lower animals.
Does art provide meaning?
I once thought it did. Making
art can distract a person from more complex yearnings. Art
can provide a focus, so it can be temporarily fulfilling in
the way that working on a puzzle can engage you, but ultimately
art doesn't provide meaning; it can provide a distraction,
it can provoke questions and sometimes illuminate alternatives,
but not definite solutions as say science or math pretends
to. Art doesn't offer solutions, because at the center of
art is ambiguity: the complex nature of truth. True art can
provide no direct answers. And this is why art is mysterious
and sometimes compelling and powerful. In interpreting art,
people bring their own baggage, their own life experiences,
their own familiarity with interpreting similar puzzles which
they often use as a basis for criticism, which sometimes functions
to deaden art or contain it or define it. But ultimately art
remains beyond our individual interpretations. Art is like
a free radical entity owing allegiance to no one, which is
why it's often considered dangerous. Anything that questions
the nature of our beliefs is dangerous.
So now that we've talked about
meaninglessness, what about meaning?
I don't know where meaning is.
But meaning seems contrary to earning a living, which is something
we're all obligated to do. Making art is not where the bucks
are, unless you're in the business of making art-like products
or art derivatives. And what's depressing is that, in a culture
like ours where a price tag is put on everything, the very
importance of art depends on its market value. But this is
not a true assessment of the value of art; this is a
philistine way of thinking. And thick-fingered philistines
are out there right now putting price tags on everything --
what they assume is art -- based on this idea: its market
or resale value.
What does this have to do
with meaning?
It has everything to do with
meaning. Market value reduces everything to simple commodities.
And a lot people ask: if you're not making money from your
art then why do it? A society like ours cheapens the artist
and art. It reduces everything to prostitution, in the end.
A line from PERMANENT OBSCURITY goes, "Money makes whores
of all of us," and I (like Dolores) agree. Ultimately,
in a culture like ours, exploitation is a way of being, a
religion.
(From PERMANENT OBSCURITY, page 7)
“Money
makes whores of all of us,” my boyfriend Raymond once
said. And I agree.
One way or another, we all have to find
ways to make it.
Serena, being a resourceful gal, cooked
up all kinds of schemes
that didn’t finally involve having to take all her clothes
off. One of
her schemes, early on, involved taking out free ads on Craigslist.
Looking back on it now, I can be judgmental
and say it was fucking
weird, say it was wrong. So can she. Now.
But we live in a free market economy, which
promotes exploitation,
and capitalism is the breeding ground for corruption. What
can I say?
Besides, there were other factors, other
needs … ones you’ll hear
about, as this true-life tragicomedy unfolds.
>< >< ><
INTERVIEW #2 with Richard
Perez by Rebecca Goodman-Smith: filmmaker, non-fiction
writer, and friend. Read INTERVIEW #1
Elise
Sutton Real Life Stories, Cuckold, Cukold, cuck, facesitting,
Melissa Febos, Slave cuckold, sissy husband Cuckold Slave, Femdom,
c
