Compost as metaphor

The March/April 2005 newsletter from AS220 compares artist communities to a compost heap, arguing for the crucial role of the collective group in each story of individual success:

They are places of cultural ferment. One can think of the conditions that produce art as akin to a compost pile. Compost contains a little bit of everything, all mixed up, and decidedly not neat. But everything in the pile contributes to the final product: rich soil in which to grow your vegetables.