When I began painting, all my paintings were of words which were gutteral utterances like Smash, Boss, Eat. Those words were like flowers in a vase. Edward Ruscha More Quotes by Edward Ruscha More Quotes From Edward Ruscha Good art should elicit a response of 'Huh? Wow!' as opposed to ‘Wow! Huh?' Edward Ruscha wow should art I'm interested in glorifying something that we in the world would say doesn't deserve being glorified. Something that's forgotten, focused on as though it were some sort of sacred object. Edward Ruscha sacred forgotten world When I first did the book on gasoline stations, people would look at it and say, Are you kidding or what? Why are you doing this? In a sense, that's what I was after: I was after the head-scratching. Edward Ruscha book people looks I just use [the camera]. I just pick it up like an axe when I've got to chop down a tree. I pick up a camera and go out and shoot the pictures I have to shoot. Edward Ruscha cameras use tree Nothing's changed except the dates on the newspapers. I'm in my same skin thinking the same old thoughts. The difference between psychedelia and digitalia ages will seem like a smooth blending in years to come and will be a mere blip on the screen. Edward Ruscha skins age thinking Traveling is irritating to me, but not driving. Going to the airport makes me nervous, but when I set out to just take a leisurely drive, it's blue skies and puffy clouds and time. Edward Ruscha airports blue clouds I never expected to sell my art. It wasn't like today where you come out of art school and they promise you a future. Now it's almost regulated in a way. When we came out of school, we just wanted to make art that'd blow your hair back and do it for sport. There was no commercial possibility that we saw. Edward Ruscha sports art school People refuse to believe that I've never been to Starbucks or Disneyland. Edward Ruscha starbucks believe people Perhaps there would be more anxiety in my work if I lived in New York. Edward Ruscha anxiety new-york would-be All my artistic response comes from American things, and I guess I've always had a weakness for heroic imagery. Edward Ruscha heroic artistic weakness I'm very stodgy. I'm always looking at old photos of California and Los Angeles, knowing that what I'm looking at is now full of houses. There used to be vacant lots in Los Angeles, now all taken up by three-storey boxes - it's all getting infilled. Edward Ruscha california knowing taken My pictures are not that interesting, nor the subject matter. They are simply a collection of facts; my book is more like a collection of Ready-mades. Edward Ruscha matter book interesting The fact that few painter-fine-artists used photography in their work made it appealing. Edward Ruscha photography artist facts I believe in intuition and approaching things as instant gratification. Just do the things you want to do, make the kind of pictures you want to make. Edward Ruscha intuition want believe There's so much going on today. I continually hear, sometimes from artists, that everything's done. It's been done. I fail to see that. Edward Ruscha done artist today I have no social agenda with my work. I'm deadpan about it. Edward Ruscha agendas social A lot of abstract painters seem to be doing everything all at once now. And so these different styles are jibing and not so jibing, and they're clashing. But they all seem to be working in their own domain. Whereas back in the '60s, man, it was kind of a dull world. It was a vital world. But it was kind of contained and not too recognized by the public. Now art is absolutely recognized by the public. Edward Ruscha style men art Most artists are doing basically the same thing - staying off the streets. Edward Ruscha streets survival artist Above all, the photographs I use are not arty in any sense of the word. I think photography is dead as fine art; its only place is in the commercial world, for technical or information purposes. Edward Ruscha photography art thinking I wasn't captivated by the romance of Paris or London. I love visiting, but I'd rather be in L.A. Edward Ruscha paris romance london
