Boy, your lovin: suffering, empathy, art and the greater good. From: C: International Contemporary Art | Date: March 22, 2005| Author: Duke, Emily Vey | COPYRIGHT 2005 C The Visual Arts Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

Art is for empathy, and empathy is for the reduction of suffering. That's the way I've always justified it as my vocation. Otherwise, what's it for? What else does it do for humanity?

On the one hand, I feel that the artist has a responsibility to reduce suffering in an abstract, global sense which encompasses all the citizens of the earth--most of whom, obviously, will never actually see the artist's work. This responsibility can be fulfilled only through a kin of rippl...