The 21st-century artist, or rather the one thirsting for high culture, needs a kind of parallel life, a detachment from the milieu so that he can walk alone. High culture repels modern daily life, the milieu is harmful, hostile, and there is nothing one can do to absorb it but lock oneself in isolation. To do otherwise is to become contaminated and lose the capacity for distinction, rotting away as did culture itself. If, on the one hand, such a contrast can show a gradual loss of the role, or perhaps the influence of high culture in society, on the other hand, on an individual level, decisions remain easy.
A Parallel Life
