Intention involves such a small fragment of our consciousness and of our mind and of our life. Jasper Johns More Quotes by Jasper Johns More Quotes From Jasper Johns I am just trying to find a way to make pictures. Jasper Johns trying way The thing is, if you believe in the unconscious - and I do - there's room for all kinds of possibilities that I don't know how you prove one way or another. Jasper Johns believe way rooms Generally, I am opposed to painting which is concerned with conceptions of simplicity. Everything looks busy to me. Jasper Johns painting simplicity looks I don't want my work to be an exposure of my feelings. Jasper Johns exposure want feelings Object in/ and space - the first impulse may be to give the object - a position - to place the object. (The object had a position to begin with.) Next - to change the position of the object. - Rauschenberg's early sculptures - A board with some rocks on it. The rocks can be anywhere on the board. - Cage's Japanese rock garden - The rocks can be anywhere (within the garden). Jasper Johns rocks garden space Every artist feels alone and isolated, Friends are very important in terms of all sorts of definitions of oneself. They tell you what you are and what they are aside from the intellectual aspects. Jasper Johns important intellectual artist Old art offers just as good a criticism of new art as new art offers of old. Jasper Johns offers criticism art I feel that works of art are an opportunity for people to construct meaning, so I don't usually tell what they mean. It conveys to people that they have to participate. Jasper Johns opportunity mean art I decided that if my work contained what I could identify as a likeness to other work, I would remove it. Jasper Johns decided remove ifs In my early work, I tried to hide my personality, my psychological state, my emotions. This was partly due to my feelings about myself and partly due to my feelings about painting at the time. I sort of stuck to my guns for a while but eventually it seemed like a losing battle. Finally one must simply drop the reserve. Jasper Johns gun personality feelings A-not-complete-unit, or a new unit. The elements in the 3 parts should neither fit nor not fit together. One would like not to be led. Avoid the idea of a puzzle which could be solved. Remove the signs of "thought." It is not "thought" which needs showing. Jasper Johns together ideas needs Merce is my favorite artist in any field. Jasper Johns favorite-artist fields artist To me, self-description is a calamity. Jasper Johns description self-esteem self I am not strong on perfection. Jasper Johns not-strong strong perfection Make something, a kind of object, which as it changes or falls apart (dies as it were) or increases in its parts (grows as it were) offers no clue as to what its state or form or nature was at any previous time. Physical and Metaphysical. Obstinacy. Could this be a useful object? Jasper Johns clue kind fall My work is largely concerned Jasper Johns knowing relation believe To do a drawing for a painting most often means doing something very sketchy and schematic and then later making it polished. Jasper Johns painting drawing mean Cubism is an anatomical chart of a way of seeing external objects. But I want to confuse the meaning of the act of looking. Jasper Johns cubism want way I often find that having an idea in my head prevents me from doing something else. Working is therefore a way of getting rid of an idea. Jasper Johns way ideas Most of the power of painting comes through the manipulation of space... but I don't understand that. Jasper Johns manipulation painting space
