I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.
Duke EllingtonRead
There is no art without intention.
Interpretation
Art requires a purposeful intent behind its creation.
Duke Ellington's quote emphasizes the idea that true art cannot be created without a deliberate intention from the artist. It suggests that art is not just a product of random chance or mere technique; rather, it is a reflection of the creatorβs inner purpose, thoughts, and feelings, making intention a crucial component of artistic expression.
In practice
In a discussion about what makes a painting profound, one might quote Duke Ellington to emphasize the need for intention.
I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.
Tomorrow is in the wings waiting for you to sound her entrance fanfare.
There is nothing to keeping a band together. You simply have to have a gimmick, and the gimmick I use is to pay them money!
Gray skies are just clouds passing over.
Playing 'bop' is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.
Jazz is a good barometer of freedom.
You cut up a thing that's alive and beautiful to find out how it's alive and why it's beautiful, and before you know it, it's neither of those things, and you're standing there with blood on your face and tears in your sight and only the terrible ache of guilt to show for it.
If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it.
When I was younger, I felt it was my duty to wake people up. I thought poetry was asleep. I thought rock 'n' roll was asleep.
Who are you, a hundred years from today, reading my poetry with curiosity?
One thing I did pick up from Cannonball Run was the use of bloopers and outtakes under the final credits, which I've done in all my movies since.
My drawings inspire, and are not to be defined. They place us, as does music, in the ambiguous realm of the undetermined.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.