Trevor Paglen Quotes

Burmese authors and artists can play the role that artists everywhere play. They help to mold the outlook of a society - not the whole outlook, and they are not the only ones to mold the outlook of society, but they have an important role to play there.

I think of art, at its most significant, as a DEW line, a Distant Early Warning system that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what is beginning to happen to it.

Art never harms itself by keeping aloof from the social problems of the day: rather, by so doing, it more completely realises for us that which we desire.

So our films had a lot more to them than entertainment value, and I'm glad that a lot of people recognize that now. People realize now the value of them as educational.

Art at its most significant is a Distant Early Warning System that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what is beginning to happen to it.

Art must unquestionably have a social value; that is, as a potential means of communication it must be addressed, and in comprehensible terms, to the understanding of mankind.

Anytime you can be a part of something that hopefully tries to make a cultural contribution, I love the idea of that.

The role of art in society differs for every artist.

Creativity and artistic endeavors have a mission that goes far beyond just making music for the sake of music.

'Narcos' was a very strong experience, not only artistically and politically, but as a human being.

The master of ceremonies asked people to say what they thought the function of the novel might be in modern society, and one critic said, “To provide touches of color in rooms with all-white walls.” Another one said, “To describe blow-jobs artistically.

The importance of the arts to the societies in which they thrive is well documented.

Art is not meant to change the world.

Because of this high status of the object in our culture, something has to be a thing. Live efforts are almost marginal. I think dance, for example, is just as much a thing, and I want for it to have the same status. I don't want it to be the thing that comes in the evening and is, like, the happy music.

Music is always a commentary on society.

I mean, art for art's sake is ridiculous. Art is for the sake of one's needs.

Certainly being in California has encouraged a sustained commitment to rethinking the nature, purposes, and relevance of the contemporary arts, specifically music, for a society which by and large seems to manage quite well without them.

I don't believe that art is just for entertainment. I want to create art that is meaningful in some way.

Music and fashion are a sign of the times and a reflection of what people want and need at this very day and age.

Although for some people cinema means something superficial and glamorous, it is something else. I think it is the mirror of the world.

A theatre, a literature, an artistic expression that does not speak for its own time has no relevance.

There arose a belief in style - and in banality. Banality encompassed politics, too, because it was a common belief that politics were not worthy of art.

We have to remind people how important arts are. People just don't see it.

We say arts education is good for general education, but that's not the point. The arts are what great nations are remembered for. They are a mirror.

I wanted to make films that were culturally relevant in my own country, that challenged people, and that people talked about.