Abstract
The basic assumption is that every artist works in the present. The objects (Art) that he produces are lessons about the environment which he wears like a mask. The artist through his mask, his art, his idiosyncratic set of goggles, is very much a part of the present. The artifact (Art) which the artist produces describes his world and, as a consequence, anticipates the future. Most artists are unaware of the critical role they play (few would admit to a status that resembles that of a social navigator). They, like most of us, do not think of the objects (art) they produce as new information which has little or no prior existence. They (the artists) are busy making their art, stirring up our perception with their products, and all the while are equally amazed when controversy occurs as the result of a new interest, a new concept, a new application, or a new technology. They are social navigators simply because they are in a better position to anticipate change because they are working in the present -- that is what all artists do. The non-artists will have difficulty with this idea because those persons are not involved in the present, and have difficulty with any kind of new information. Coping with new information is an unsettling experience because it never fits easily into old categories.
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