Here's the workaround! http://forums.tapastic.com/t/issues-uploading-pics/15192/44?u=shazzbaa
Staff's lack of communication on fixing the avatar problem is absolutely very frustrating, but it has nothing to do with the front page vs the little guys! It's more of "issue on forums vs things on the site & app."
I do think we gotta see some kind of update from staff on the matter. But if we're gonna complain about it, we oughta complain about the right thing!
I feel like this still isn't gonna have a solid answer, because it depends on the audience and the work and the subject, and varies wildly. A subject people know little about will find art influencing life far more than the other way around -- the CSI effect is a really good example of this. People who do crime investigations could 100% change the way they do things, and it probably still wouldn't be reflected in TV-land, but the way it's done in TV-land has had real world impacts on the way people view criminal investigation. But a change in society, something that impacts all of us, will immediately be reflected in the sorts of stories we tell and the stories we promote -- so, in some cases, art influences life more, in other cases, life influences art more.
And then art is often influenced by a reality which reflects back and influences others. Basic representation is a good example of this -- you tell your own story when you haven't seen stories about people like you, and in turn your art influences and empowers those who'd never seen themselves in stories before, and in some cases changes the perceptions, ever so slightly, of the people who'd never seen an experience like yours before. That art was 100% influenced by a single life.... but it rippled out and affected way more lives than that. So which element was "more" influential? That's tough to answer.
I kinda think the answer is still "both."