When I Come Up Against The Real

I Was A Child Of American Popular Culture. All I Did As A Kid Was What I Could Get At The Local Supermarket Or The Dime Store. Nothing Else Was Seen. Plus What Was On Television, Or The Movie Theatre. That Was It.

I Draw The Line At Some Things. Some Things I Won't Do For Any Amount Of Money. Like For Instance, There's A Couple Of Ceos Of Very Large Corporations That Offered Me Lots Of Money To Do Special Pictures For Them. And I Just Refused To Do That. Even If It Was A Million Dollars I Wouldn't Do It.

As A Kid Growing Up In The 1950s I Became Acutely Aware Of The Changes Taking Place In American Culture And I Must Say I Didn't Much Like It. I Witnessed The Debasement Of Architecture, And I Could See A Decline In The Quality Of Things Like Comic Books And Toys, Things Made For Kids. Old Things Seemed To Have More Life, More Substance, More Humanity In Them.

Some Of The Wealthy Collectors Have Paid Lots Of Money For Artwork That I Already Did, But I Didn't Do It With The Intention Of Catering To Them. I Think Part Of The Reason My Work Is Attractive To People Like That Is Because It Doesn't Cater To Them.

Killing Yourself Is A Major Commitment, It Takes A Kind Of Courage. Most People Just Lead Lives Of Cowardly Desperation. It's Kinda Half Suicide Where You Just Dull Yourself With Substances.