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Quote by Dave Hickey

“The idea of political content is irrelevant. Content is irrelevant. I always tell my students, "Never forget you're writing words! You know, word one, word two, word three, word four. The words have to be organized. Nothing else does."”

Quote by Dave Hickey

Author

Dave Hickey is an esteemed American art critic born on December 5, 1940. Known for his profound insights and unique critiques of contemporary art, his work spans a wide range of fields from modern to postmodern art, having a significant impact on the art world. more

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“Gossip is the currency of the discourse, so you should shut up about yourself. Never confess, never explain, never apologize, and never complain.”

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“When you really respect somebody who does something different from you, your respect is for the quality of the job.”

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“I don't think the government should touch art. Governments are risk averse. They encourage risk-averse personalities to be artists.”

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“With the artists, I don't teach, I coach. I can't tell them how to make art. I tell them to make more art. I tell them to get up early and stay up late. I tell them not to quit. I tell them if somebody else is already making their work. My job is to be current with the discourse and not be an asshole. That's all I wanted in a professor.”

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“My greatest influence has been the blues. And that's a literary influence, because I think the blues is the best literature that we as black Americans have.”

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“Blues is the bedrock of everything I do. All the characters in my plays, their ideas and their attitudes, the stance that they adopt in the world, are all ideas and attitudes that are expressed in the blues.”

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“The impulse to write the poem, that impulse is a great dramatic impulse. But hell, anybody could write a play. I do know this: all writers are not dramatists. You may be a great writer, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're a dramatist. Very few people have done both.”

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