We like to learn all we need from earlier generations, but we have to find out for ourselves what we need; nobody else can do that for us. Asger Jorn More Quotes by Asger Jorn More Quotes From Asger Jorn A creative train of thought is set off by: the unexpected, the unknown, the accidental, the disorderly, the absurd, the impossible. Asger Jorn train-of-thought unexpected creative Beautiful, ugly, impressive, disgusting, meaningless, grim, contradictory etc … It makes no difference, as long as it is life, vigorously pouring forth. Asger Jorn differences beautiful long My work is based on a tradition quite distinct from the Eckersberg tradition, a Nordic line of development that had never been clearly and consistently defined in the literature on art. This line is not a straight one; it has the strangest and most fascinating twists and curves, and includes such artists as Edvard Munch, Ernest Josephson, Hill, Hansen Jacobsen, Johannes Holbek, Jens Lund, and Emile Nolde. Not all of them equally well known. Asger Jorn twists curves art Everything is in constant flux, from state to state, from good to bad and back again... only in transmutation, perpetual motion, lies truth. Asger Jorn flux states lying The great work of art is the complete banality, and the fault with most banalities is that they are not banal enough. Banality here is not infinite in its depth and consequence, but rests on a foundation of spirituality and aesthetics. Asger Jorn foundation depth art To break and be able to grow together again in a better way: that is the difficult art. Asger Jorn together-again able art We are sparks that must glow as brightly as possible. Asger Jorn sparks To make the material speak to man in the name of man, this is the aim and reality of art. Asger Jorn communication reality art The act of expressing oneself is a physical one. It materializes the thought. Asger Jorn expressing-oneself oneself The significance of something lies in its presence here and now. I don't care what it has been or what it will become. It is the experience of things that matters, the confrontation with things. Asger Jorn experience care lying The artist's interest cannot be restricted to a single field; he must seek the highest perception of everything, of the whole and its details. Asger Jorn details perception artist We are not disillusioned because we have no illusions... What we have and what is our strength, is our joy in life... in all its amoral aspects. That is also the basis of our contemporary art. Asger Jorn illusion joy art Only my current situation has enabled me to accomplish the expensive task of demonstrating that the preferred sustenance of painting is painting. Asger Jorn currents painting tasks Those who try to combat the production of shoddy pictures are enemies of the best art today... It always feels tragic to see people labouring to saw off the branch they are sitting on. Asger Jorn people enemy art Anything really new is repulsive, because it is abnormal and unreasonable. Asger Jorn abnormal originality unreasonable If a symbolic language dies, it tortures us like a nightmare, like a thousand piece orchestra grating on our nerves and tearing our mind to pieces.. .It is a corpse with no symbolic power or strength. Asger Jorn orchestra nerves mind The goal changes from the general to the individual from need to wish, from ethics to aesthetics. Asger Jorn goal wish needs We are not talking about a new cognition in relation to abstract art, rather a new area of cognition. Asger Jorn cognition talking art In 1939 I wrote my first article ("Intime banaliteter" [Intimate banalities] in the journal Helhesten) in which I expressed my love for sofa painting, and for the last twenty years I have been preoccupied with the idea of rendering homage to it. Thus I act with full responsibility and after extensive reflection. Only my current situation has enabled me to accomplish the expensive task of demonstrating that the preferred sustenance of painting is painting. Asger Jorn responsibility reflection years True realism, materialist realism lies in the search for the expression of forms faithful to their content. But there is no content detached from human interest. Asger Jorn faithful expression lying
