Sermonette Commandment II

Commandment II: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's art.

Brothers and sisters in art:

Artists steal and borrow from one another all the time. This enriches the gene pool of creativity. Artists form groups, write manifestos, exhibit together in shameless conections manifestations of style, form and content. This is the organic nature of art.

In this way envy is a positive force for creativity. Envy energizes the drive to create when it comes from the honest recognition of power and excellence in another's work of art. But the dark side of envy can be poisonous. It can eat away at one's own vision and creativity. It destroys in oneself the very thing it envies in another.

This is the warning of Commandment II.