June 2013
1 post
May 2013
1 post
November 2012
1 post
“The fear of abstract art is that it could be interpreted in many ways, and who knows what you could read into a painting that didn’t have a clear message? One of the obsessions that the Soviet Union and the eastern European communist parties had was always controlling the message — all information that everybody gets has to be carefully controlled and monitored. Art was no exception, art was supposed to tell a story, it was supposed to have a happy ending, it was supposed to teach, it was supposed to support the ideals of the party. There was no such thing as art for art’s sake and there was no such thing as art reaching into some kind of spiritual, wordless realm. No, art was done in service of the state and it was something that was going to help mold people and create citizens who do what the state tells them, and who follow the rules.”
—Anne Applebaum on the fear of abstract art in communist culture in the period after World War II (via nprfreshair)
October 2012
4 posts
“Writing nonfiction is more like sculpture, a matter of shaping the research into the finished thing.”
—Joan Didion (via theparisreview)
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”
—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (via crookedindifference)
“I don’t mean to give you a Zen koan, but the work I did is the work I know, and the work I do is the work I don’t know. That’s why I can’t tell you, I don’t know what I’m doing. And it’s the not knowing that makes it interesting.”
—Philip Glass. (via somethingchanged)
September 2012
15 posts
“I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can.”
—Neil Gaiman (via thatquote)
