I just a couple of days ago saw that Frank Zappa was involved with the avant garde movement. He was playing on bicycles, a project that closely resembled some of the happenings of the Fluxus movement. I am sure he was on the avant garde scene, and it makes perfect sense.

What makes an artist is interesting. The decision is so different from person to person. I have known many, many musicians and pictorial artists that simply was in the community and learned how to do the stuff. Some was attracted to it from very early on or had their talent recognised by their parents, and then started seeing themselves as important artists. Others like myself started in the actual art very early and it became an important part of life. There's also the incidental artist who likes the community and end up artist - often both extremely boring and successful art they make :)

I respect your decision. It keeps the world more open and art never really was about closing down and remembering to shut of the light, which is what most of the put-into-boxes work of art-criticism is about.

I have just purchased a strange album by Danish Black Metal queen Myrkur, and as it is a strange eclectic mix of genres it has made people furious because it isn't black metal in their definition. I never understood this need of categories. I will write a morgenseite about it.