The "artist" as I know him is an eternal immigrant, an exile in his natural surroundings, one who is unable to put down roots in the existing social order. A refugee, whose "homeland" recedes farther and farther away, the harder he tries to reach it.

In this emotional condition there are no intermediary stops, no cities of shelter; "absence" is the motive, the alibi and the engine that can go the farthest.

This condition puts the artist in the position of social observer and critic, one who is in argument and contention with his surroundings. . .

The artistËs angle is a conflict for which there is no solution or escape. The "absence" is an entity with a separate or separated identity; the need to search for an audience forces him to camouflage, blur and veil this separate identity.

The adopted identity may be that of the lunatic, wild boy, clown, entertainer, revolutionary, media entrepreneur, mystery man.

The essence of the conflict lies between the identity of someone who is basically "unidentifiable" and his own compulsion or need to "collaborate" with one whose mere presence defines the artistËs otherness.

These and similar conflicts shape not only the character of the artist, but also the character of the "spy." He is a character suited for work in an intelligence organization as a secret agent, a double agent and provocateur. A character whose identification enables simultaneous involvement in and distancing from the circle around him, one who is busy alternatively creating and erasing his independence, while perpetually wandering between reality and the alternative world of his creation.

The Israeli condition takes the artistËs role to the extreme, creating a paradox. The very act of social criticism in the existing political-social condition helps establish its permanence. Through even his most subversive actions, the artist can be construed as a collaborator and serve as a fig leaf. He reinforces the existing social order by helping create a picture of alleged normalcy in which there is room for opposing ideas and criticism (and which is turning into a regulated and supervised drainage channel and clearing house for aggression).