If you have ever felt some emotion by the reason of a skater's clear intention during their performance then you have objectively experienced the defined relationship between the artist and the interpreter.
Yes.
Waiting for the counter argument: "but its not the primary goal, its just a secondary effect; the primary goal is points!"
Just to clarify, if you're referring to my post earlier.
I wouldn't say that the primary goal of skating is to earn points. I would say that the primary goal of skating
competition is to demonstrate mastery of skating techniques, relative to other skaters. At the very highest levels, to determine bragging rights for "best in the world" at least on that occasion.
The points (6.0 style or IJS style) are just a way of keeping track of the evaluation of that mastery.
Many of the criteria for the current Composition and Performance scores relate to using that mastery for purposes that can be artistic -- the highest scorers in those areas will tend to be skaters who make creating art, entertaining and communicating with audiences a priority. In some cases because their personal motivation for competing in the first place is because they love to perform for audiences and competition is just a means to that end; for other skaters, their primary motivation for competing is to win/prove their excellence, and they know that they need to earn high CO and PE scores to do so.
Why do 99% of people even watch figure skating? To meticulously judge lutz technique to the minute detail? Drooling with excitement when they finally get to comment on a 0.1% imperfect "flutz" while eating cheetos in their mums basement? Sorry not everyone is like you.
That is true -- the majority of fans and casual spectators watch skating for the performance aspects and don't care about the technique.
But from the point of view of the
participants, competition is about demonstrating mastery.
Because this is a complex sport, there are many areas of mastery that are rewarded
Skaters skate to create a performance, not to be a number ranked with other numbers.
It depends on the skater what their priorities are.
Some care most about performing artistically and don't really like to compete, but they only do so because the way the sport is structured and the way audiences are used to learning about skaters, competition is the best way to reach potential audiences. Once they have enough medals and fame to attract audiences, they may prefer to focus on show skating instead.
Some care most winning. Or about showing off their difficult athletic skills that they're most proud of.
Many skaters are jocks at heart and care most about the athletic feats. Many skaters are shy and struggle to perform outwardly. These skaters may never master the "artistic" aspects of the sport and therefore may never make it to a level where casual audiences who are most interested in the performance aspects will ever see them, or ever pay much attention to them when they do compete at high levels. Or athletically focused skaters who master extreme cutting-edge technical content will attract attention based on those difficult feats.
Most skaters who succeed at the highest levels (i.e., the only skaters that 99% of spectators ever watch) want to win
and to show off their skills
and to connect with audiences. They wouldn't make it that far if they weren't able to fulfill all the TES criteria and the PCS criteria at least reasonably well, even if some aspects come more naturally to them or are of more interest to them than others.
But 99% of
participant skaters will never make it to a level where casual fans even know they exist.
Even among lower-level skaters and lower-ranked seniors, different skaters will have different favorite things about skating and different motivations for competing.
At all levels, skaters work hard to master technical skills (everything that goes into the Skating Skills component as well as the elements) to get to the competitive level where they are, and they deserve to have that hard work recognized and rewarded.
As a low-level adult skater with a performing arts background, yes, I wanted to compete primarily so that I could put together programs with an artistic purpose and try to perform them to the best of my ability at my skill level. But I also wanted to show off some difficulty (and creativity) by including spin variations or footwork turns at the limits of my technical skills at the time.
In one artistic competition where I placed second, a judge told me that he placed me first because, although the winner was more expressive (and had some more/more difficult jumps), he liked the way I "let the blade run." I.e., my biggest strength in that performance was in the area of skating skill. I took that as a compliment to be proud of.
If we want to eliminate the term"artist" as too controversial, we can substitute: Patrick Chan was a master of his craft, even as Rembrandt was a mater portraitist. Or Patrick was a wizard of the skating blade, even as Rembrandt was a wizard with a paint brush in his hand.. 
