Art is conversation

Something I learned from poetry is that pieces can be in conversation with one another. All great art is the product of intertextuality.¹ Or, in other words, everything is a remix.²

Making art is a way of expressing oneself and reaching out. Sharing it is a collaboration. I may be the one speaking, but the listener is making sense of what I’m saying. Wolfgang Iser says a literary work has two poles: the artistic and the aesthetic, with the former being accomplished by the author and the latter accomplished by the reader.³

!To read is to translate —W. H. Auden

!Leave them something to imagine —Laurence Stern

Margaret Atwood likens the reception of art to performing a music score.

!The reader is the musician of each book —Margaret Atwood

James Hannaham says similarly.

!When you write pretty much anything, you’re essentially asking someone to read a musical score

Adia Victoria says dialogue is an art. Put yourself on a stage when you speak to another person, and let yourself be seen. Work to create spaces where others can be put on stage and be seen too. Have a conversation. “Call out for your people, and listen for the response.”⁴