State of Art

By Murthy, BS

Book Id: WPLBN0100750884
Format Type: PDF (eBook)
File Size: 197.52 KB.
Reproduction Date: 10/28/2025

Title:	State of Art
Author:	Murthy, BS
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Non Fiction, Philosophy, State of Art
Collections:	Authors Community, Literature
Historic Publication Date:	2025
Publisher:	Self Imprint

Member Page:	BS Murthy
Citation APA MLA Chicago Murthy, B. (2025). State of Art. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.us/

Description
This divine separation of commerce and arts that was the norm till the recent past was the source of the enrichment of the latter on the Indian soil, maybe everywhere on the planet earth. As there was no money to make in the pursuit of arts, it was the passionate that embraced art to embellish it with devotion. Thus, avoided by motivated suitors, art got wedded to talent as the Muses blessed the match. In that happy union, talent courted art with passion and tended it with devotion as a means of self-expression. In the end, the artist got his due as well, feeling self-enriched by the appreciation of the knowledgeable.

Summary
The Indian legend has it that goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswathi respectively bestow wealth and learning on earth. It was the belief that both the goddesses would never bless the same soul. Such was their mythical rivalry that each would deny her munificence to the one under the other’s patronage. In the popular perception, the phenomenon of the rich merchant and the poor pundit was supposedly the manifestation of the goddesses at odds. Thus, the merchant accumulated wealth, however contributing to the commerce, while the pundit enriched society through his knowledge, himself remaining impoverished, nevertheless, both seemed reconciled to the enmity of their respective patrons in heaven as they got their share of recognition on earth.

Excerpt
In order to penetrate the book market, the publishers came up with the stratagem of promotional campaigns bringing authors into the media fore. This insensibly glamourized authors thereby attracting the aliens into the arena of writing though publicizing the book is one thing and promoting the author is another. Not to miss out on the new openings in the book trade, some of the opportunists in the west came up with courses in creative writing for aspiring authors thereby putting art on the assembly line and successfully at that! The net result is not hard to imagine what with everyone throwing his tailored manuscript into the publishing ring. And to cope up with the author rush that they helped create, the publishers would need an army of editors, which of course, the economics of publishing wouldn’t permit. The corollary is the need to offload. It’s thus, the newfound job work opportunity in book manufacturing created the species of literary agents. Thus, the literary agent took it upon themselves to sort out the publishers’ mail and the face of book publishing assumed a new dimension. The editorial judgment of yore gave way to the phenomenon of influence peddling as the editors conceded their literary ground to literary agents. While the system bred laziness in the editorial department is empowered the agent who could well boast that getting his mod is a good as being published! After all, the agents are aware of their ability to make the editors lean towards the manuscripts they canvass for. One could imagine the scope of the trade what with hundreds of thousands of manuscripts making the rounds. It is but natural that a spurious agent would surface sooner than later to fleece the gullible writers. In spite of the individual’s causalities, the agent system seems to work well in the western mass publishing industry.