Trevor Paglen Quotes

No amounts of stone and bone could yield the kinds of information that the paintings gave so freely.

I have always been fascinated by paleontology and prehistoric people, and I've always thought that one of the most intriguing moments in human history was the birth of artistic imagination. I always loved those cave paintings.

Is the Mona Lisa an 'accurate' representation of the actual human model for the painting? Who knows? Who cares? It's a great piece of art. It moves us. It makes us wonder, makes us gape - finally makes us look inward at ourselves.

Part of my attraction to ancient art is that there is an element of risk, of speculation.

Even the earliest cave paintings in France and Spain had natural motion.

Visual storytelling of one kind or another has been around since cavemen were drawing on the walls.

Shouldn't it give us pause that the oldest works of art are as impressive today in their beauty and spontaneity as they were many thousands of years ago?

We feel closer to the drawings on the walls of Chauvet than the painting of, say, an Egyptian mural. These artists are not remote ancestors; they are brothers. They saw like us; they drew like us. We wear essentially the same clothes against the cold.

Art is not meant to change the world.

Haunted since the day its discovery was projected all over the world in 1994, I, like many others, have always wanted to see inside the Chauvet cave, site of the world's earliest known cave art. Quite rightly, we will never go. It is closed to the public.

I mean, art for art's sake is ridiculous. Art is for the sake of one's needs.

I believe that true art is universal in its appeal.

It is a peculiar art form, but I think it's a necessary art form - and I do believe it's a noble art form.

Of what use were the arts if they were only the reproduction and the imitation of life?

I really appreciate anyone trying to inject art into mainstream film.

To do art, one thing should always remember - subjects of people in misery have deep meanings.

All good performance pieces have some philosophical validity. That's the difference between mere theater and performance art.

If my art has nothing to do with people's pain and sorrow, what is 'art' for?

We say arts education is good for general education, but that's not the point. The arts are what great nations are remembered for. They are a mirror.

The key to good art is to make something that means something to you.

Works of art are like a Trojan horse. Under the surface is always some artist's deeply held philosophy on their view of the world. But on the other hand, you do not want to make it feel like medicine. You do not want to make it feel like an afternoon TV special where you're trying to hammer a message into someone's head.

It is important to consider that the horror movies should - like modern art - not have a too obvious meaning. When you watch them, it is more important what you feel than what you understand.

I don't think we should be deceived that art is such a moral thing.

It's productive and fun to try interpreting cave paintings, but ultimately, they can't teach us anything beyond what we imagine them to be.

Art is not journalism. In art, you don't make it to convey a message.