I wanted to deal with light directly rather than with paint.
James TurrellRead
Nowhere in the job description of an artist is the requirement that I must validate your taste.
Interpretation
An artist is not obligated to conform to the tastes of others.
James Turrell's quote highlights the idea that artists have the freedom to express themselves creatively without needing to seek approval or validation from their audience. It underscores the importance of authentic artistic expression over appeasing others' preferences, encouraging artists to remain true to their unique vision and style.
In practice
This quote can be shared during an art seminar to emphasize the importance of individual artistic expression.
I wanted to deal with light directly rather than with paint.
It is only when light is reduced that the pupil opens and feeling goes out of the eyes like touch.
I feel that I want to use light as this wonderful and magic elixir that we drink as Vitamin D through the skin - and I mean, we are literally light-eaters - to then affect the way that we see.
In many cases, if we knew what it would take, we might have thought twice about it, so it's often wonderful that we don't have hindsight.
There are different stages when you fly. The first stage is the dollhouse effect, seeing everything on Earth like it's a model. Suddenly, all of your concerns seem very small.
Space has a way of looking. It seems like it has a presence of vision. When you come into it, it is there, itβs been waiting for you.
Every fine story must leave in the mind of the sensitive reader an intangible residuum of pleasure, a cadence, a quality of voice that is exclusively the writer's own, individual, unique.
Everyone else thinks I'm a nonfiction writer. I think it's because my nonfiction is easier to find. But I write both in equal measure. I love writing fiction because I can totally lose myself, and I get to make up the rules of the world that I'm writing.
Now art should never try to be popular. The public should try to make itself artistic.
When I work on sculpture, I don't have to worry about function. When I work on a piece of architecture, I must think about function all the time.
Van Gogh never made a penny in his entire lifetime. He painted because it was his soul, his excitement. It was what aligned him with his Source of being. It's the same with me and writing.
You have to learn a few things, which you do along the way, but basically, poetry is a matter of the ear. Iambic pentameters or what constitutes a stanza comes naturally - your ears will know.
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