Hito Steyerl
Art is the Highest Form of Hope & Other Quotes by Artists is a collection of punchy and pithy quotes by big-name artists. It’s a Phaidon coffee-table book (toilet-reading book?) the exact size and shape of a Protestant hymnal. It came out last year. Glasstire spotted it on the coffee table of a favorite art-world person recently and started skimming, and as much as one might like to dismiss it as a load of superficial soundbites, it’s oddly addictive and rewarding. It’s 300+ pages of quotes by an array of otherwise unaffiliated artists, and yet the whole reads like cross between a self-help manual, an art-school manifesto, and a Chicken Soup for the Soul for creative types.
Here are some favorite quotes found in its pages:
Don’t pretend that you’re not proud of your work. – April Gornick
Instead of looking at things, look between things. – John Baldessari
Sometimes in a hostile situation you stick around, because hostility itself is important. – Dorthea Lange
The first time you do something only happens once. – Chris Burden
I don’t think you can really put a monetary value on a painting. – Jacob Lawrence
I don’t know what kind of an artist I am. – Jasper Johns
I learned everything I know from films. – Nan Goldin
I have this juvenile fascination for things that are repulsive. – Cindy Sherman
I will not put on an electric light unless it’s a totally freak situation. – Alex Katz
The fact is that most people don’t do anything special enough to be ripped off. – John Currin
I don’t believe in heroes. In heroines, perhaps. – Hito Steyerl
There is a right physical size for every idea. – Henry Moore
Whom one gets into bed with is no light matter. – Paul Gauguin
My studio is in my head. – Fred Wilson
What I’ve found is the more famous I’ve become, the more success I’ve had, the less people seem really interested in me as a person. – Pipilotti Rist
Yes, the title does matter. – Lynda Benglis
