--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've never read a book on shape. I've…" description: "\"I've never read a book on shape. I've read books on gesture; I've read tons of books on color, surface, field, ground, representation, abstraction. But..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f94/amy-sillman-31202_book_i-ve-never-read-a-book-on-shape-i-ve-rea_1069422.jpg" --- # I've never read a book on shape. I've read books on… ![“I've never read a book on shape. I've read books on gesture; I've read tons of books on color, surface, field, ground, representation, abstraction. But I've never read a book on what a shape is.” quote by Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f94/amy-sillman-31202_book_i-ve-never-read-a-book-on-shape-i-ve-rea_1069422.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f94/amy-sillman-31202_book_i-ve-never-read-a-book-on-shape-i-ve-rea_1069422.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f94/amy-sillman-31202_book_i-ve-never-read-a-book-on-shape-i-ve-rea_1069422.jpg) > “I've never read a book on shape. I've read books on gesture; I've read tons of books on color, surface, field, ground, representation, abstraction. But I've never read a book on what a shape is.” [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The artist highlights a gap in understanding the essence of shape, despite extensive study of related visual elements. **In simple terms:** We study many visual aspects but lack a clear definition of shape. Key Takeaway Explore the fundamental nature of shape. Themes art perception theory abstraction Mood inquisitive analytical thoughtful Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - artistic inquiry - philosophical exploration - educational Key Concepts visual language ontology form definition Questions to Reflect On - What does shape mean to you? - How can we teach the concept of shape? A Different Perspective Defining shape may be inherently subjective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Book Shape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-shape-664970/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Books Gesture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-gesture-2655664/) [Read A Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-a-book/) [Read Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-book/) [Representation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/representation/) [Shape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shape/) [Ve Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ve-read/) ## Related quotes > [“I've never read a book I didn't like!!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-goodwoman/i-ve-never-read-a-book-i-didn-t-like/) [D. Goodwoman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-goodwoman/) > [I don't mind what people say about me. I've never read a book about myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/i-don-t-mind-what-people-say-about-me-i-ve-never-read-a-book-about/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [We'd never expect to understand a piece of music on one listen, but we tend to believe we've read a book after reading it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/we-d-never-expect-to-understand-a-piece-of-music-on-one-listen-but-we/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [You're not a historian, but most historians will tell you that they make very discrete judgment as to what facts to omit in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-stone/you-re-not-a-historian-but-most-historians-will-tell-you-that-they/) [Oliver Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-stone/) > [At different times and in different places I have come to expect certain books to look a certain way, and, as in all fashions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/at-different-times-and-in-different-places-i-have-come-to-expect/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [When someone says they've read your book 15 times, you think, 'Well, you should read something else.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/when-someone-says-they-ve-read-your-book-15-times-you-think-well-you/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [I've never read one book about my father.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziggy-marley/i-ve-never-read-one-book-about-my-father/) [Ziggy Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziggy-marley/) > [“Seeing the movie does not mean you've read the book.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebekah/seeing-the-movie-does-not-mean-you-ve-read-the-book/) [Rebekah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebekah/) > [I never read. I've never read one book... I just can't do it. Something's wrong with me. I have what they call now is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jones/i-never-read-i-ve-never-read-one-book-i-just-can-t-do-it-something-s/) [Steve Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jones/) > [I attempt to read one book every day. I don't always achieve that, especially when I'm traveling. But when I'm home, I read almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-canfield/i-attempt-to-read-one-book-every-day-i-don-t-always-achieve-that/) [Jack Canfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-canfield/) > [I was a mess-up in school, a big mess-up. I was into history and English, because there were always stories, like 'Dracula' and World…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-keoghan/i-was-a-mess-up-in-school-a-big-mess-up-i-was-into-history-and/) [Barry Keoghan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-keoghan/) > [Free time is a terrible thing to waste. Read a book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri-2/free-time-is-a-terrible-thing-to-waste-read-a-book/) [E. A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri-2/) > [“When you read a book, you don't give up on it. You might soon feel like your part of the story.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiersten-white/when-you-read-a-book-you-don-t-give-up-on-it-you-might-soon-feel-like/) [Kiersten White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiersten-white/) > [We should read music in the same way that an educated adult will read a book: in silence, but imagining the sound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoltan-kodaly/we-should-read-music-in-the-same-way-that-an-educated-adult-will-read/) [Zoltan Kodaly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoltan-kodaly/) > [“I just can't get with this idea that literature is a 12-step program. If someone wants to read a book to see good people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/china-mi-ville/i-just-can-t-get-with-this-idea-that-literature-is-a-12-step-program/) [China Miéville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/china-mi-ville/) ## More by Amy Sillman > [In my work, we're not looking at an icon, we're not looking at a sign, we're not looking at a representation. We're looking at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/in-my-work-we-re-not-looking-at-an-icon-we-re-not-looking-at-a-sign/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) > [The works have to look like they're confident. But they also have to look sort of troubled. It's this weird thing: "Does that look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/the-works-have-to-look-like-they-re-confident-but-they-also-have-to/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) > [I'm in this process of trying to create a free space. Like an open field, where figure and ground are in very ambivalent, complex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/i-m-in-this-process-of-trying-to-create-a-free-space-like-an-open/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) > [That’s the huge problem with an abstract painting. When are you done? You’re done when you don’t want to do it anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/that-s-the-huge-problem-with-an-abstract-painting-when-are-you-done/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) > [I made silk screens of my drawings. I could add a drawing that was made with a machine or digitally to a drawing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/i-made-silk-screens-of-my-drawings-i-could-add-a-drawing-that-was/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) > [I want to expand the question of when something is done. I want to vex the ending. I want to mess around with that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/i-want-to-expand-the-question-of-when-something-is-done-i-want-to-vex/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) > [At some point, I get a weird feeling, and that's when I know it's done. I probably ruin a lot of really perfectly fine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/at-some-point-i-get-a-weird-feeling-and-that-s-when-i-know-it-s-done/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) > [All accidents and experiments, and discoveries, are what my work is about. The problem that I have as an artist is being way too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/all-accidents-and-experiments-and-discoveries-are-what-my-work-is/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) > [Who would be an artist that was perfectly happy? Maybe nowadays, but when I grew up in the '60s, you had nobody in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/who-would-be-an-artist-that-was-perfectly-happy-maybe-nowadays-but/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) > [A lot of what I do in my work is taking a thing and either washing it off, scraping it, covering it, scraping it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/a-lot-of-what-i-do-in-my-work-is-taking-a-thing-and-either-washing-it/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) > [You can make a beautiful thing, but there's no problem in it. I like the idea of doing a thing, wrecking a thing, questioning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/you-can-make-a-beautiful-thing-but-there-s-no-problem-in-it-i-like/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) > [Every painting I've ever done has like 100 paintings under it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/every-painting-i-ve-ever-done-has-like-100-paintings-under-it/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) > [Being bad. Discomfort with your body. Bad self image. All those things turn you into an artist. The same things that keep you from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/being-bad-discomfort-with-your-body-bad-self-image-all-those-things/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) > [I make paintings really slowly because I change them and change them and change them and change them and change them. I don't really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/i-make-paintings-really-slowly-because-i-change-them-and-change-them/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) > [It's more this instinct to get in trouble, and then get myself out of trouble. That's what painting is for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/it-s-more-this-instinct-to-get-in-trouble-and-then-get-myself-out-of/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) [Explore all 16 Amy Sillman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I've never read a book on shape. I've read books on gesture; I've read tons of books on color, surface, field, ground, representation, abstraction. But I've never read a book on what a shape is.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Amy Sillman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/i-ve-never-read-a-book-on-shape-i-ve-read-books-on-gesture-i-ve-read/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Book" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/i-ve-never-read-a-book-on-shape-i-ve-read-books-on-gesture-i-ve-read/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f94/amy-sillman-31202_book_i-ve-never-read-a-book-on-shape-i-ve-rea_1069422.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f94/amy-sillman-31202_book_i-ve-never-read-a-book-on-shape-i-ve-rea_1069422.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f94/amy-sillman-31202_book_i-ve-never-read-a-book-on-shape-i-ve-rea_1069422.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I've never read a book on shape. I've read books on gesture; I've read tons of books on color, surface…” — Amy Sillman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Amy Sillman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I've never read a book on...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/i-ve-never-read-a-book-on-shape-i-ve-read-books-on-gesture-i-ve-read/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/i-ve-never-read-a-book-on-shape-i-ve-read-books-on-gesture-i-ve-read/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```