|
Perhaps art is a quest for the perfect, or even the imperfect. Reality always falls short on both sides.
ANNA DEAVERE SMITH, Letters to a Young Artist
They say that art should stand the test of time. Life lasts a limited amount of time. Mountains and trees and earth will outlive human beings, but we don't know if they will be here always. Art does outlast the life span of its maker. Art should communicate to an increasing circle of strangers--people who do now know the artist, but come to know the work, and through the work, come to know something about the humanity of the artist that rings with their own humanity.
ANNA DEAVERE SMITH, Letters to a Young Artist
He was trying to get me to come inside
and away from the scene,
but I said, "No."
I said, "We have to stay here
and watch
because this is wrong
ANNA DEAVERE SMITH, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
I think that's just the dichotomy of the theater, who funds and who comes to watch.
ANNA DEAVERE SMITH, interview, A.V. Club, January 13, 2012
Even jealousy is based on fantasies: a fantasy that someone else has what belongs to you.
ANNA DEAVERE SMITH, Letters to a Young Artist
I think we can learn a lot about a person in the very moment that language fails them. In the very moment they have to be more creative than they would have imagined in order to communicate.
ANNA DEAVERE SMITH, Talk to Me
I do want to activate, in audience members, their intellect, and the way they put things together. Because I think, personally, that's a very satisfying process, to have something make sense for me. In that way, I see the event as a way to investigate meaning, to get into very personal things. So, for example, when people say to me, "What do you want audiences to take away?" I say, "This play, of all the things I've done, I really believe that people are bringing a lot more than I have."
ANNA DEAVERE SMITH, interview, A.V. Club, January 13, 2012
We who are in the arts are at the risk of being in a popularity contest rather than a profession. If that fact causes you despair ... pick another profession.
ANNA DEAVERE SMITH, Letters to a Young Artist
Confidence is you've been on that bull before and you know you're gonna ride 'im.
ANNA DEAVERE SMITH, Letters to a Young Artist
|
