Behind all art is an element of desire…Love of life, of existence, love of another human being, love of human beings is in some way behind all art – even the most angry, even the darkest, even the most grief-stricken, and even the most embittered art has that element somewhere behind it. Because how could you be so despairing, so embittered, if you had not had something you loved that you lost?
Quotes on art
You look like a lesbian artist fairy.
When I see individuals so passionate for their chosen field, I feel a very strong sense of belonging. Passion unites us – not just every writer and every chef but every musician, every artist, every man, woman and child who throws themselves into an activity not for money or fame or because it makes any sense at all but because they love it and they must.
I remember growing up, saying you’re an artist it sounds pretentious but now it’s one of the only dignified things that you can call yourself.
In times of trouble, people need artists. We create those spaces where their own pain and worry and sadness can rest, and where their broken hearts can hope again.
A great spirit has been amongst us, and a great artist is gone.
Music is art, and art is an integral part of the human experience.
So. Lie there, my art.
And whenever any one informs us that he has found a man who knows all the arts, and all things else that anybody knows, and every single thing with a higher degree of accuracy than any other man -whoever tells us this, I think that we can only imagine him to be a simple creature who is likely to have been deceived by some wizard or actor whom he met, and whom he thought all-knowing, because he himself was unable to analyze the nature of knowledge and ignorance and imitation.
But then, that’s the beauty of writing stories-each one is an exploratory journey in search of a reason and a shape. And when you find that reason and that shape, there’s no feeling like it.”
[Peter Wild Interviews TC Boyle, 3:AM Magazine, June 2003]