This blog is named after a novel written by Ayn Rand (1905-1982) who is credited as being the founder of Objectivism after writing the novels 'Atlas Shrugged', 'The Fountainhead' and the non-fictional piece 'The Virtues of Selfishness', all explorations of the concept of Objectivism.
Objectivism holds that reality exists independent of human conciousness and that our objective perception of reality through our senses and our innate use of logic should lead us to believe that the correct moral purpose of human life should be acheive our own goals and strive for personal happiness.
I respond to this concept that creative output such as art or music, dance, design or drama should primarily be a personal exploration, resulting in a product meant for the comprehension and emotional response of others . It's basically an overly convoluted way of saying that you should do your work for personal benefit and let others' appreciation of it come second; and in my experience that seems to be the only way to produce good work.
On another level I simply like the imagery of the title, Atlas - whose role it was to support the world and all of mankind - shrugging and letting the responsibilty for the rest of humanity roll off his shoulders.
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