When I came to the West, I saw many, many things for the first time. But I also saw the prosperity of the West critically. It wasn't really Heaven. Sigmar Polke More Quotes by Sigmar Polke More Quotes From Sigmar Polke It's the procedures in and for themselves that interest me. The picture isn't really necessary. Sigmar Polke procedures interest What interests me is the unforeseeable. Sigmar Polke interest I don't see a big difference between painting and photography. Moreover, such distinctions mean nothing to me. Sigmar Polke differences photography mean Yes, my works... are enshrined in museums, but I don't care if the pieces fall apart in 20 years. Sigmar Polke museums years fall I’m a believer in luck and think the social conditions you’re born into provide the opportunity for you to prove your luck. And I suppose I’ve been lucky. Sigmar Polke luck opportunity thinking Mostly, drawings are things I make for myself - I do them in sketchbooks. They are mental experiments - private inner thoughts when I'm not sure what will come out. Sigmar Polke sketchbooks not-sure drawing A negative is never finished. Sigmar Polke finished negative Picabia is a very old painter who some people try to connect me to, but I refuse such comparisons very well. Sigmar Polke painter trying people There has to be an element of risk-taking for me in my work. Sigmar Polke risk-taking elements risk I began drawing as a very young child and had a grandfather who experimented with photography, so those things constituted my first exposure to art. Sigmar Polke photography children art As a child, I copied Duerer drawings and Bruegel. Sigmar Polke drawing children When I was young, I was interested in Renaissance art. Sigmar Polke renaissance young art Light is a metaphoric thing. There is green light and red light. Then there is black light, which is mostly danger. Sigmar Polke red green black light I love all dots. I am married to many of them. I want all dots to be happy. Dots are my brothers. I am a dot myself. Sigmar Polke be-happy i-am myself love We were very poor and my family lost everything during the war - our home and our identity. But I'm a believer in luck and think the social conditions you're born into provide the opportunity for you to prove your luck. And I suppose I've been lucky. Sigmar Polke you family home war The conventional definition of reality, and the idea of 'normal life', mean nothing. Sigmar Polke nothing life mean reality Because I was traveling a lot during the '70s, the only thing I could do on the road was take photographs, so there wasn't much painting during those years. Sigmar Polke road only painting years I've never been interested in philosophy, but some of Jung's ideas seem useful in helping people understand pictures and so forth. Sigmar Polke pictures understand people ideas By making pictures, you learn the many different properties of photography. I use those properties differently than, say, an advertising agency would, but we're both operating in the same reality. A face painted by Picasso occupies the same reality as a portrait by Stieglitz. Sigmar Polke pictures face you reality People expect things from art that are horrible for us who make it! They put the things we make in these restrictive places called 'museums,' then don't want to hear another word from us. Sigmar Polke things want people art