art in a vacuum?

The relationship between artist and audience is bilateral; the one cannot exist without the other. This means that the artist must ‘see’ her audience when she creates, at very least in her mind’s eye.
Art cannot exist in a vacuum – it needs a recipient in order to come alive. So naturally there must be some form of communication between artist and audience, some basic acknowledgement of each other’s existence, failing which there can be no art. The artist can never survive without an audience, however small or critical. The audience is a precious component of the performance.
The corollary of this is that artists will wither if they are ignored; this is why enlightened civilizations throughout history have patronized them.
The moral of the story – demand live music, support theatre, view ‘art’ movies, read books, buy art!