An expert and an amateur would face similar questions when presented with a new piece of wood to carve. The answers lie both within the wood and within the person.

Though one might be inclined towards a figurative shape, a chair perhaps, that may not be within the capacity of the wood or the worker. The amateur though is more prepared to allow for the emergence of something new, something resembling a stool possibly. The expert may be more bound by the standardization of form before beginning at all.

At current, the notion of amateurism only exists against a backdrop of capitalism, in that it does not actively participate in the exchange of goods or services at a scale to warrant it a profession. This is either the choice of the actor through their tacit refusal or the choice of the market in its lack of acceptance. It also defines a context of participation, and with all contexts monetized, including our social interactions, we then, are all co-opted professionals. Even alternative sub-economies of exchange as a rejection of mainstream platforms are precarious and eventually assimilated into these larger market systems (Bandcamp, for example). 

Workers at Andy Warhol’s Factory exhibited more influence on a final piece in the stretching of the canvas or in the mixing of paint than in applying the screenprint of an electric chair. The amateur flute player was of more use to Sun Ra in his band than a second chair clarinetist. The amateur can more readily follow the instructions to play what they do not know. 

Amateur athletes eschew paid achievement in their field solely for the purpose of competition with other amateurs, not because of a lack of opportunity for compensation. An amateur competition is filled with those who love to do the thing unencumbered with the need to do the thing for money. 

The allure of the music of the Portsmouth Sinfonia lies not in hearing where the mistakes are, but rather where the amateur approach has created something more beautiful than what is written on the page.

When it comes to the music of Therefore, we have embraced the aesthetics and attitudes of amateurism. But what remains of amateurism when a practice has been refined and disciplined over twenty-five years? This binary choice is limiting and inadequate. Defined crassly, if you make your living off of your art you are an art professional. This assumption isolates art and life into distinct categories further valorizing the economy of art, and in turn devalues the practice of art as a worthy undertaking in and of itself.