Monthly Archives: February 2010

How to Proceed in the Arts

10. Whatever happens, don’t enjoy yourself. If you do, all that has been wisely put here has been an absolute waste. The very nature of art, as opposed to life, is that in the former (art), one has to be a veritable mask of suffering, while in the latter (life), only white teeth must pervade the entire scene. We cry in art. We sing with life.

-Frank O’Hara, with Larry Rivers