David Ayer Quotes

My respect for artists is very high. I think to get the most out of them, you have to liberate them. I think part of liberating them is saying, 'Come up with something brilliant, new, and fresh. Stop thinking based on what has been beat into you by executives or publishers in terms of what's going to work and what's not. Don't react, just act.'

There's no room for being a visionary in the studio system. It literally cannot exist.

If you're not allowed to experiment anymore for fear of being considered self-indulgent or pretentious or what have you, then everyone's going to just stick to the rules - there's not going to be any additional ideas.

If you stick with a vision, it might not all work, but some of it will be absolute genius. To me, 15 minutes worth of absolute genius in a film is so much better than two hours of mediocrity. I would rather pay to see something different like that.

It's true with fashion, acting, anything: Make sure it's timeless, but at the same time, there's got to be a little hint of risk.

Each single gesture of art must be daring. One must not be concerned with the side-effects.

I'm proud that with 'Bright Eyes' we've always experimented and tried to make a different record every time out.

Painting is not for me either decorative amusement, or the plastic invention of felt reality; it must be every time: invention, discovery, revelation.

I'm an artist, and I like the risk - I'm not in it for the sure things.

A lot of producers and creative types want to see you be you. Throw something else out there and show them where you would take this part. A lot of them are launching shows for the first time, so they've got a lot riding on this, too, and they want you to be their flight.

I think the idea of art kills creativity.

Sometimes, if you really want to try something original, you step a little too far out of bounds. I mean, there's a market force that kind of unconsciously keeps you in line a little bit.

When I've worked with established artists, I've naturally been more restricted, but you still have to take risks and push yourself to do something different.

I think people need to see Prince live to really understand how remarkable he is. He has always been inspiring because he is never afraid to break rules or barriers or invent something new - and if you love fashion, then you need to be able to do that.

In art, theories are as useful as a doctor's prescription; one must be sick to believe them.

No doubt the artist is the child of his time; but woe to him if he is also its disciple, or even its favorite.

If you're always thinking about someone else's work, about the tradition you're working in, how can you possibly make anything good?

Artists rarely do the same thing over and over again. Art is about the new, doing things in a new way.

The best thing for an actor is to try it his way. The way they do it may not work, but it may inspire me to try something else.

As long as you do the best work that you can and not make it bland... because you're going down a lane that is trying to make everybody happy. You have to take an angle on these things.

Every time I get in the studio, I feel like I wanna have some fun. My fun is not doing the easy work. My fun is doing what's me.

Balance is the enemy of art.

I always wanted to be really experimental.

I wanted to make my sophomore film as different as possible. I didn't want to be pigeonholed. I didn't want to be identifiable.

I love to get to that place where I don't know what kind of music I'm doing; I don't know if it's any good. I don't know if it's anything. It's a big question mark. The idea is to have interesting results. That's my bottom line.