Quotes on Art

The world of art is not a world of immortality but of metamorphosis.

The artists must be sacrificed to their art. Like the bees, they must put their lives into the sting they give.

The art of government is the organization of idolatry. The bureaucracy consists of functionaries; the aristocracy, of idols; the democracy, of idolaters. The populace cannot understand the bureaucracy: it can only worship the national idols.

The art of using moderate abilities to advantage often brings greater results than actual brilliance

Art is not living. It is the use of living. The artist has the ability to take the living and use it in a certain way and produce art.

Much of modern art is devoted to lowering the threshold of what is terrible. By getting us used to what, formerly, we could not bear to see or hear, because it was too shocking, painful, or embarrassing, art changes morals.

The art of life is the art of avoiding pain; and he is the best pilot, who steers clearest of the rocks and shoals with which it is beset.

Sculpture and painting have the effect of teaching us manners and abolishing hurry.

Divine Nature gave the fields, human art built the cities.

To me, beauty appears when one feels deeply, and art is an act of total attention.

In architecture it isn't enough to just have the right building that works well. It can also be beautiful. It can also be different. It can create surprise. And surprise is the main thing in a work of art. [] I like and respect Brasí­lia very much. It is a simple city, a rational one. I always defend the urban design of Brasí­lia

You employ stone, wood and concrete, and with these materials you build houses and palaces. That is construction. Ingenuity is at work. _x000D_ But suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good, I am happy and I say: This is beautiful. That is Architecture. Art enters in.

Abstract art was the quivalent of poetic expression; I didn’t need to use words,but colors and lines. I didn’t need to belong to a language-oriented culture but to an open form of expression.

I try to make art which celebrates doubt and uncertainty. Which provokes answers but doesn't give them. Which withholds absolute meaning by incorporating parasite meanings. Which suspends meaning while perpetually dispatching you toward interpretation, urging you beyond dogmatism, beyond doctrine, beyond ideology, beyond authority.

The grid system is an aid, not a guarantee. It permits a number of possible uses and each designer can look for a solution appropiate to his personal style. But one must learn how to use the grid; it is an art that requires practice.

I remember saying to myself those things are very, very important to hear, but there must be another way to say them so that they will truly be heard. I mean, that's what art is. Art is about being provocative. Art is also about beauty. And if you leave the latter out, the former doesn't matter.

Art has always been the raft onto which we climb to save our sanity. I don't see a different purpose for it now.

A lot of people seem to think that art or photography is about the way things look, or the surface of things. That's not what it's about for me. It's really about relationships and feelings...it's really hard for me to do commercial work because people kind of want me to do a Nan Goldin. They don't understand that it's not about a style or a look or a setup. It's about emotional obsession and empathy.

You’re supposed to expand your mind to fit the art, you’re not supposed to chop the art down to fit your mind.

The great thing about the arts, and especially popular music, is that it really does cut across genres and races and classes.

I wanted to kill art for myself.. ..a new thought for that object.