COP3: essay writing reflection

I had been struggling to write recently but I've been having some second thoughts about some of the arguments in my essay and maybe it is almost a blessing in disguise that I hadn't written more about the contexts and themes without thinking about these points:

• WHY IS SHOWCASING OUTSIDER ART GOOD???????

I've been a bit doom and gloom about the gallery impact of Outsider Art in my essay. There is no doubt that it is problematic but, in a very basic sense:

• it is offering an outlet to artists who may not otherwise make it in such a restrictive and elitist system
• it is offering an outlet to new art that does not follow trends/ works towards the market (this gets into fetishising authenticity but all in all, personally, I feel the authentic is truly quite a great thing)

I've been ignoring why I was drawn to Outsider Art in the first place

• Do I too, fetishise the authentic or is it genuinely a 'better' artistic characteristic?

I'm still behind at this point in my writing but I think if I can do a small amount of research now it will really benefit making a better, balanced argument within the essay. I also believe that visiting this art and the gallery environment it lives in in real life will also encourage thoughts and discussion.