Edward Ruscha

I was attracted to the concept of Hollywood and the lifestyle here. But I've grown to mistrust it because it has changed. I didn't bargain for digital access parking in some concrete structure. Real heaven for me was to drive somewhere and park right in front. Now the city is going vertical. ”

The difference between psychedelia and digitalia ages will seem like a smooth blending in years to come and will be a mere blip on the screen. ”

I travel a lot, but I don't come away with new inspiration. ”

All my artistic response comes from American things, and I guess I've always had a weakness for heroic imagery. ”

The big pay-off was to work as an artist and gain some shred of respect from your friends, who were also artists. But there was never any notion that you could make a living out of art. On the rare occasions you had a gallery show, and sold a little work, well, that was just gravy. ”

Basically everything I've done in art, I was in possession of when I was 20 years old. I use a waste retrieval method of working. I'll go back and use something that disgusted me 15 years ago but that I had enough sense to think about. Some artists change dramatically. I see my work more like history being written. ”

My friends and neighbors were always fixing their cars. Soldiers who felt restless wanted to work on something, and they understood cars. Me, I like to look at cars but I was never really a mechanic. ”

As an artist, I gotta stand up to my own work. ”

I don't do social media of any kind. If I did, I may as well join Scientology. ”

I have no social agenda with my work. I'm deadpan about it. ”