ABSTRACT
This chapter systematizes the theoretical framework revealed by the non-traditional practice of creating commercial poetry through busking and commission in Los Angeles. In a broader sense, RENT Poet confronts the way in which artistic practice is contingent not on any real or tangible value, but on a subjective and speculative value. The ironic foundation of RENT Poet locates it squarely within the post-modern framework of awareness of contradiction, playing art for art's sake against commodification, authenticity against respectability. Part of what RENT Poet can provide is a good Marxist model of artistic labour without alienation – a collaborative art project that deconstructs specialist hierarchies in what may be a fitting theme for an artwork. The scam overarchingly refers to entrenched systems of unequal access or injustice for artists – the way capitalism appropriates art and the way institutions exploit artists.
