I wrote a post about Patti Smith a long time ago, and then deleted it. But I just read another interview on her, and she still fascinates me. I'll post both articles here in case anyone else is interested in reading.

The first, on her eclectic eye for fashion.

The second, and probably more interesting, an interview with thoughts on her memoir, Just Kids, and her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe.

a short excerpt:

It’s a dark period now because everyone is beguiled by fame. We have these horrible reality shows like American Idol, which is pop art at its basest, and it’s probably something that Andy Warhol, in his genius, anticipated. But the artist has to struggle beneath that canopy, just as we struggled beneath a different canopy—though ours wasn’t as overwhelming. I think that true artists just have to keep doing their work, keep struggling, and keep hold of their vision. Because being a true artist is its own reward. If that’s what you are, then you are always that. You could be locked away in a prison with no way at all to communicate what’s in there, but you’re still an artist.
The imagination and the ability to transform is what makes one an artist.