Think of an abstract painting as very, very low relief – a thing, not a picture.
I always make a point to make my records different. Let’s say I have a record that’s influenced by hip-hop in an abstract way; for the next record, I’d try not to do that. They are all connected in a personal way but it’s important not to repeat myself, because then I can always learn something about myself through my work.
Do you not see, first, that – as a mental abstract – physical force is directly opposed to morality; and secondly, that it practically drives out of existence the moral forces?
The universe is governed by science. But science tells us that we can’t solve the equations, directly in the abstract.
Within two hours of where I live, you have mountains and desert as location. I like the natural elements that abstract into light, texture, shape and shadow.
We live in an age when the traditional great subjects – the human form, the landscape, even newer traditions such as abstract expressionism – are daily devalued by commercial art.
I’ve said this before – and I mean it strongly – an abstract concept or a moral issue has to be connected to feeling. If we don’t believe it somehow viscerally, we don’t really take it in.
The best thing you can say about libertarians is that because their views derive from abstract theory, they tend to be highly principled and rigorous in their logic.
The science of operations, as derived from mathematics more especially, is a science of itself, and has its own abstract truth and value.
If you’re a painter, you don’t go, ‘Abstract’s really selling, so that’s what I’m going to do.’ If you’re really truly an artist, you have to think what you’re meant to paint.
My stories often begin with a situation or character rather than an insight about the human condition. It’s always been difficult for me to write from an abstract idea, no matter how interesting or compelling I feel the idea might be.
