I can
feel the tension between the big things that grieve me to my over-sensitive core — like the execution of Troy Davis that took place last night — and the little things that tick me
off — like folding laundry again, the big things that overwhelm me with gratitude — beauty, truth, love,
friendship, kinship — and the little things that make me want to weep with joy — the gap between Joseph's teeth, Evelynn's toothless smiles, Anne perched in a chair for an hour with a book.
He discusses Pop Art's place in art history; his initial
feelings about being considered a Pop artist; the influence of Los Angeles and its environment on his work; his
feelings about English awareness of America; a discussion of his use of words as images; a discussion of the Standard Station as an American icon; a discussion of the notion of freedom as it is perceived as a Southern California phenomenon; how he sees himself in relation to the Los Angeles mural movement (L.A. Fine Arts Squad); the importance of communication to him; his relationship with the entertainment world in Los Angeles and its misinterpretation of him; his books; collaboration with Mason Williams on «Crackers;» his approach toward conceiving an idea for paintings; personal
feelings about the books that he has done; the importance of motion in his work; a discussion of the movies «Miracle» and «Premium;» his
friendship with Joe Goode; his return from Europe and his studio in Glassell Park; his move to Hollywood in 1965; the problems of balancing the domestic life and the artistic life; his stain paintings and what he hopes to learn from using stains; a disscussion of bicentemial exhibition at the L.A. County Museum: «Art in Los Angeles: Seventeen Artists in the Sixties,» 1981; a discussion of the origin of L.A. Pop as an
off shoot from the American realist tradition; his
feelings about being considered a realist; the importance for him of elevating humble objects onto the canvas; a discussion on how he chooses the words he uses in his paintings; and his
feelings about the future direction of his work.