Most the artists active in the Village at the time Dylan arrived were, in some way or another, trying to making traditional art forms contemporary and meaningful to them. Dylan did it musically (as did other folk revivalists), the Beats were doing it with poetry (Ginsburg's masterpiece 'Kaddish' is a good example), Shepard was doing it theatrically (he was heavily influenced by Beckett as a young man), and artists like Warhol were doing it through the visual arts. All of them influenced Dylan at the time, just as he influenced them.

All those artists were also busy challenging the American myths, especially the myths related to family and relationships, which were changing rapidly and dramatically at the time.

I mean, is there someone who may still doubt that 'Desire' was made to be the soundtrack to 'Reynaldo and Clara' and the Rolling Thunder Revue Tour the visual narrative, to Dylan's disintegrating marriage and his failed relationships with women?