The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it's just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture “This is a pipe”, I'd have been lying!
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the nature of representation and reality in art.
Rene Magritte's quote emphasizes the distinction between representation and reality, particularly in visual art. He critiques the notion of depicting an object literally, suggesting that labeling a depiction of a pipe as 'this is a pipe' would mislead viewers about the nature of the artwork. It challenges us to reconsider how we interpret art and the meaning behind representations.
In practice
Using this quote during an art exhibition to provoke discussion on how we interpret artworks.
I detest my past, and anyone else's. I detest resignation, patience, professional heroism and obligatory beautiful feelings. I also detest the decorative arts, folklore, advertising, voices making announcements, aerodynamism, boy scouts, the smell of moth balls, events of the moment, and drunken people.
A thing which is present can be invisible, hidden by what it shows
Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see.
Everything that is visible hides something that is invisible.
Nothing is confused except the mind.
We must not fear daylight just because it almost always illuminates a miserable world.
The dream is not a map. A poem is not the territory. The dreamer reclines in a barbershop carpeted with Afro turf. In the dark some soul yells. It hurts to walk barefoot on cowrie shells.
To end up with a canvas that is no less beautiful than the empty canvas is to begin with.
When you make movies, it's such an important period of time, when you look back at each one of them. You want to be able to say that you did something that was a challenge and that changed you.
I'm sad to see celluloid go, there's no doubt. But, you know, nitrate went, by the way, in 1971. If you ever saw a nitrate print of a silent film and then saw an acetate print, you'd see a big difference, but nobody remembers anymore. The acetate print is what we have. Maybe. Now it's digital.
If you watch any good player, they're using different parts of their body and working with instruments that respond to those movements. They're moving in many dimensions at once.
The practice of art isn't to make a living. It's to make your soul grow.
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