Transcending the Transactional
A Conversation between writers Thomas J. Bevan and Luke Burgis on the Anti-Mimetic Act of Creating Art
This interview with Thomas J. Bevan first appeared on Anti-Mimetic by Luke Burgis.
Luke and Thomas, who are colleagues of mine in the Soaring Twenties Social Club have graciously granted the Sovereign Artist newsletter permission to reprint this interview. In a world where artists are constantly being pressured to create and “pump out” content, it is worth pausing to ask - what is content? And how does “content” relate to art? Is art a subset of content or is it something different? I, personally, consider art and content to live on opposite ends of a continuum, which mirrors the viewpoint put forth in this article.
A few recommendations before we move onto the article:
If you are tired of the never-ending negativity and banality of social media, might I suggest you consider joining Thomas’ Soaring Twenties Social Club as a paid member? I’ve been a member for many months, and the club’s private Discord is a wealth of true writing, connection with other like-minded souls, and art that I haven’t found anywhere else online. I find myself spending more and more time there and less and less time on social media. Click here to join. If you’re not quite ready to join, at least sign up for the free tier.
Thomas is a fascinating writer, I also suggest you subscribe to his personal, free, newsletter here.
Lastly, Luke Burgis’ newsletter is a refreshing deep dive into the topic of Mimetic Desire. The theory of mimetic desire explains a lot of the problems we are currently seeing in the world, and I suggest, if that topic is remotely of interest, to subscribe to Luke’s newsletter or purchase his book, an Amazon editor’s pick for Best Nonfiction: Wanting.
One last note - so as not to run into any duplicate content issues between this post and Luke’s original article on his Substack, this post will only be available on our site, for free subscribers, for two days, after which time we will lock it (after that it will be available only to our paid subscribers, but free subscribers can still revisit it after that by going directly to Luke’s Anti-Mimetic Substack).
OK on to the interview. Please enjoy: