We are not moving towards some kind of goal. We are at the goal, and it is changing with us. If art has any purpose, it is to open our eyes to that fact.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that life and art are dynamic processes rather than static goals, urging us to recognize and embrace change as a constant aspect of existence.
Antony Gormley's quote suggests that rather than striving for a fixed destination or achievement in life, we should acknowledge that we are perpetually in a state of change, and that our understanding of purpose evolves alongside us. Art serves as a medium that enhances our awareness of this fluidity, encouraging us to appreciate the current moment and the continuous transformation of our experiences.
In practice
During a lecture on contemporary art, one could use this quote to illustrate how art reflects the ongoing changes in society.
I believe in the city as a natural human environment, but we must humanize it. It's art that will re-define public space in the 21st Century. We can make our cities diverse, inspirational places by putting art, dance and performance in all its forms into the matrix of street life.
It's wonderful to see art in a museum, but it is institutionalised. I don't like the idea of the artwork as something that requires special conditions. I would like it to be universal.
Art is not about objects of high monetary exchange. It's about reasserting our firsthand experience in present time.
Anybody that creates anything is just creating new compositions of things that have existed before. We're all creating something, we're all creating our own personal works of art in ourselves.
When you write, it’s like braiding your hair. Taking a handful of coarse unruly strands and attempting to bring them unity. Your fingers have still not perfected the task. Some of the braids are long, others are short. Some are thick, others are thin. Some are heavy. Others are light. Like the diverse women of your family. Those whose fables and metaphors, whose similes and soliloquies, whose diction and je ne sais quoi daily slip into your survival soup, by way of their fingers.
The good critic is he who relates the adventures of his soul among masterpieces.
Instead of noting down things I’m unlikely to forget, I will write a poem. Even if I have never written one before and even if I never do so again, I will at least know that I once had the courage to put my feelings into words.
Let us create extraordinary words, on condition that they be put to the most ordinary use and that the entity they designate be made to exist in the same way as the most common object.
To call Clive Barker a 'horror novelist' would be like calling the Beatles a 'garage band'... He is the great imaginer of our time. He knows not only our greatest fears, but also what delights us, what turns us on, and what is truly holy in the world. Haunting, bizarre, beautiful.
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