when you see me again it won’t be me

Indeed, if fantastic art could simply be ordered, all our television would be good. Those executives sitting at the top of the pyramid would wave their hands and demand a 24-episode season of their favourite show, and have it be eye-wateringly phenomenal. Life-changing, why not? Such a thing is an impossible fantasy. Whatever form of alchemy that artists participate in cannot be bottled: even your favourite musicians have turned in a turd album or two, haven't they? No, be honest. They have.

When you see a great work suddenly emitted after decades of procrastination, unease, noodling around, and bad attitudes... that's what it's all about. You were right to bet on this weird freak who keeps trying to jam paint onto a stolen canvas with a palette knife. Only you could see the magic deep within them. That reflected glory is the stuff of legends, and occasionally a few million bucks when you sell off all the crap art they gave you to pay for paint and bread. Or, it never happens, and you have a basement full of worthless kinda-bad watercolours of horses. Those horses are pregnant way more often than you would expect, statistically. Does that make it art?

Wohnpark Alterlaa - Alterlaa residential park, by Harry Glück & Partner, Kurt Hlaweniczkaand Requat & Reinthaller (planned in 1968, built between 1973 and 1985).

Vienna, Austria.

© Roberto Conte (2022)

"Hey we should stop sending trans people to a fucking exorcist before they're allowed to transition? Since we know, scientifically, that demons are Not Fucking Real?"

"Ok but what if someone regrets transition though?"

"DEMONS ARE NOT FUCKING REAL."

"You really don't care about the possibility of regret?"

"DEMONS. ARE NOT. FUCKING. REAL. THE EXORCIST. HAS NOTHING TO DO. WITH REGRETTING ANY TRANSITION PROCEDURE. ON ACCOUNT OF EXORCISM BEING FAKE AND MADE UP."

The first thing that comes to mind in place of "exorcist" that isn't literally an exorcist, is that trans people are sent to therapists or psychologists before being allowed medical transition.

a direct analogy here would have OP implying that it's scientifically proven that therapists and psychology are made-up and don't work.

Like those aren't practicing psychology, and they don't have any meaningful expertise on transition care, which is performed by endocrinologists and surgeons further down the line. The gatekeeper is just some guy who asks how you masturbate and makes a vibes-based judgment on whether the answer means you're faking it.

Smoking Piranha - Erika Lee Sears , 2024.

American, b. 1980s -

“I had been at work about two months when Christmas came on – and here I must relate a little anecdote. The principal [the tailor] and his lady were invited to a party among their friends…while it devolved on me to stay at home and keep house. There was nothing left me in charge to do, only to take care of the house. There was a large cat that generally lay about the fire. In order to try my mechanical powers, I concluded to make a suit of clothing for puss, and for my purpose gathered some scraps of cloth that lay about the shop-board, and went to work as hard as I could. Late in the evening I got my suit of clothes finished; I caught the cat, put on the whole suit – coat, vest, and small-clothes [breeches] – buttoned all on tight, and set down my cat to inspect the fit.