Meaningful Expression Quotes

All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors. Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex and vital.

Words are also actions.

Perhaps it's good for one to suffer. Can an artist do anything if he's happy? Would he ever want to do anything? What is art, after all, but a protest against the horrible inclemency of life?

My art completes my life.

Ordinary language carries with it conditions of meaning which it is easy to recognize by classifying the contexts in which the expression is employed in a meaningful manner.

Creativity is how we cope with creation. While creation sometimes seems a bit un-graspable, or even pointless, creativity is always meaningful.

Words can travel thousands of miles. May my words create mutual understanding and love. May they be as beautiful as gems, as lovely as flowers.

There was a big drive when I was at art school to make you aware of the economy of meaning - after all, this was still during the tail end of minimalism. Being responsible for everything you put in your picture, and being able to defend it. Keeping everything clear around you so you know what is operating. To open the wound and keep it clean.

Language designed to impress builds a gulf. Language to express builds a bridge.

Words can sometimes, in moments of grace, attain the quality of deeds.

If words don't have vibration behind them, and a real feeling behind them, then they're just words.

Making noise is easy; making stuff people understand is an easy thing to do.

Letters are something from you. It's a different kind of intention than writing an e-mail.

You can't have style if you don't have substance.

When art becomes merely shock value, our sense of humanity is slowly degraded.

I like to have something that makes me want to write. Otherwise, I'm just writing for the sake of it. I feel like if I've got something to say, I'll say it the right way.

Art is freedom. If we don't have that element, we don't feel human anymore. Art is not decoration or a function. Before all that, art is art. This connection to meaning - our inner, intuitive knowledge - is something.

Bright is the ring of words When the right man rings them.

What is said determines who listens and who understands. Graphic design is a language, but graphic designers are so busy worrying about the nuances - accents, punctuation and so on - that they spend little time thinking about what the words add up to. I’m interested in using our communication skills to change the way things are.

First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.

You need a purpose to express yourself, but that expression is its own purpose.

Translation is at best an echo.

When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.

No man writes a book without meaning something, though he may not have the faculty of writing consequentially and expressing his meaning.

You don't always have to sing dark things to be thoughtful.