Painting doesn't freeze time. It circulates and recycles time like a wheel that turns. Those who were first might well be last. Painting is a very slow art. It doesn't travel with the speed of light. That's why dead painters shine so bright.
Interpretation
Painting captures moments that reflect the passage of time, offering a timeless perspective on art and life.
In this quote, Marlene Dumas emphasizes how painting operates not as a mere snapshot of a fleeting moment but as a medium that reflects and transforms our understanding of time. She points out that while art may not progress as quickly as modern life, it possesses a unique ability to resonate with audiences long after the artist has passed, highlighting the enduring nature of creative expression.
In practice
This quote can be used in an art class to discuss the timeless nature of artistic expression.
There's this idea that it's all natural, but everything's been staged to look natural. It is also an invention. It's just that my inventions are different. I often get asked about my artifice, but isn't fashion based on the idea that we can create a fantasy?
Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life.
Music is the best means we have of digesting time.
It is not reasonable that art should win the place of honor over our great and powerful mother Nature. We have so overloaded the beauty and richness of her works by our inventions that we have quite smothered her.
Acting is an everlasting search for truth.
I spent an hour looking at pots and carpets in the museums the other day, until the desire to describe them became like the desire for the lusts of the flesh.
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