Winter in Beijing

In "The Passion of Michel Foucault," American writer James Miller recounts a story related to the freedom of the artist from political interference. A student asks him, "Does the artist have an identity, or is he a powerless 'type,' who in the last fifty years has become more powerless than ever, due to the manipulation of technical media like television? Can the artist transcend the 'structure'? Or is he doomed to commoditization, puppetization?"

Foucault says to the student that freedom can be derived from recognizing that acts of transformation to larger, societal structures can be committed by the individual – and not just authorities. Foucault concludes by saying that artists have more freedom than ever.