A man climbs a mountain because it is there. An artist makes a work of art because it is not there.
My art will reflect not necessarily conscious politics but the unanalysed politics of my life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that the artist's personal experiences and unconscious beliefs will influence their art more than deliberate political statements.
Carl Andre expresses the idea that his artwork will naturally embody the political influences within his life, even if they are not consciously intended. This reflects the notion that an artist's background, beliefs, and experiences will inherently shape their creations, whether or not they set out to make a political statement. Thus, the politics of life are often more complex and nuanced than what is overtly acknowledged or articulated in art.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in an art class to discuss how personal experiences influence artistic expression.
More from Carl Andre
All quotes βEvery time you work, you have to do it all over again, to rid yourself of this dross. I suppose for a person who is not an artist or not attempting art, it is not dross, because it is the common exchange of everyday life.
My art springs from my desire to have things in the world which would otherwise never be there.
Similar quotes
There is romance, the genuine glinting stuff, in typewriters, and not merely in their development from clumsy giants into agile dwarfs, but in the history of their manufacture, which is filled with raids, battles, lonely pioneers, great gambles, hope, fear, despair, triumph. If some of our novels could be written by the typewriters instead of on them, how much better they would be.
Photography is a form of time travel.
The idea that one might use art for 'instrumental' reasons tends to set off alarm bells at the heart of the cultural elite, who contend that it's not a pill, that it shouldn't be asked to perform some specific function, especially something as egocentric as to 'cheer you up' or to 'make you a more empathetic person.'
Nothing matters but the writing. There has been nothing else worthwhile... a stain upon the silence.
Beautiful things don't ask for attention.
My art, what do you want to say about it? Do you think you can explain the merits of a picture to those who do not see them? . . . I can find the best and clearest words to explain my meaning, and I have spoken to the most intelligent people about art, and they have not understood; but among people who understand, words are not necessary, you say humph, he, ha and everything has been said.