Sol LeWitt Quotes

Obviously a drawing of a person is not a real person, but a drawing of a line is a real line.

When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.

Most ideas that are successful are ludicrously simple

You belong in the most secret part of you. Don’t worry about cool, make your own uncool. Make your own, your own world. If you fear, make it work for you—draw and paint your fear and anxiety.

New materials are one of the great afflictions of contemporary art. Some artists confuse new materials with new ideas.

Don’t worry about cool, make your own uncool.

All intervening steps, scribbles, sketches, drawings, failed work models, studies thoughts, conversations, are of interest. Those that show the thought process of the artist are sometimes more interesting than the final product

Irrational judgements lead to new experience.

Most ideas that are successful are ludicrously simple. Successful ideas generally have the appearance of simplicity because they seem inevitable. In terms of idea the artist is free to even surprise himself. Ideas are discovered by intuition.

A blind man can make art if what is in his mind can be passed to another mind in some tangible form.

Banal ideas cannot be rescued by beautiful execution.

One should be intelligent enough to know when not to be too intellectual

Artists are mystics rather than rationalists. They leap to conclusions that logic cannot reach.

You shouldn't be a prisoner of your own ideas.

The most interesting characteristic of the cube is that it is relatively uninteresting. Compared to any other three-dimensional form, the cube lacks any aggressive force, implies no motion, and is least emotive. Therefore, it is the best form to use as a basic unit for any more elaborate function, the grammatical device from which the work may proceed.

The idea part is simple but the visual perception is complex.

The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.

I wasn't really that interested in objects. I was interested in ideas.

Your work isn't a high stakes, nail-biting professional challenge. It's a form of play. Lighten up and have fun with it.

When artists make art, they shouldn't question whether it is permissible to do one thing or another.

The system is the work of art; the visual work of art is the proof of the System. The visual aspect can't be understood without understanding the system. It isn't what it looks like but what it is that is of basic importance.

What the work of art looks like isn't too important. It has to look like something if it has a physical form. No matter what form it may finally have it must begin with an idea. It is the process of conception and realization with which the artist is concerned.

Once it is out of his hand the artist has no control over the way a viewer will perceive the work. Different people will understand the same thing in a different way.

One usually understands the art of the past by applying the conventions of the present thus misunderstanding the art of the past.

Unless you're involved with thinking about what you're doing, you end up doing the same thing over and over, and that becomes tedious and, in the end, defeating.