--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ideally, each piece of art's its own…" description: "\"Ideally, each piece of art's its own unique object, and its evaluation's always present-tense.\" — David Foster Wallace" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/967/david-foster-wallace-161_art_ideally-each-piece-of-art-s-its-own-uniq_1663652.jpg" --- # Ideally, each piece of art's its own unique object, and… ![“Ideally, each piece of art's its own unique object, and its evaluation's always present-tense.” quote by David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/967/david-foster-wallace-161_art_ideally-each-piece-of-art-s-its-own-uniq_1663652.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/967/david-foster-wallace-161_art_ideally-each-piece-of-art-s-its-own-uniq_1663652.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/967/david-foster-wallace-161_art_ideally-each-piece-of-art-s-its-own-uniq_1663652.jpg) > “Ideally, each piece of art's its own unique object, and its evaluation's always present-tense.” [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art should be seen as a distinct entity, evaluated in the present moment. **In simple terms:** Each artwork stands alone now. Key Takeaway Appreciate art in its own time. Themes art aesthetics presentism Mood introspective analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - museum visits - art criticism - creative practice - education Key Concepts ontology critical theory Questions to Reflect On - How does present‑focused evaluation change perception? - What challenges arise when separating art from context? A Different Perspective Subjectivity may affect judgments. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Present tense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-tense/) ## Related quotes > [It is the original idea that is unique, not the object itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-vasarely/it-is-the-original-idea-that-is-unique-not-the-object-itself/) [Victor Vasarely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-vasarely/) > [So far, as far as we know comet Wild 2 is a unique object.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-brownlee/so-far-as-far-as-we-know-comet-wild-2-is-a-unique-object/) Donald E. Brownlee > [I love you present tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-love-you-present-tense/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“To remember was an act not of excavation but of self-creation in the present tense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-secor/to-remember-was-an-act-not-of-excavation-but-of-self-creation-in-the/) Laura Secor > [“Oh God, Alaska, I love you. I love you," and the Colonel whispered, "I'm so sorry, Pudge. I know you did," and I said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/oh-god-alaska-i-love-you-i-love-you-and-the-colonel-whispered-i-m-so/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“For children, childhood is timeless. It is always the present. Everything is in the present tense. Of course, they have memories. Of course, time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/for-children-childhood-is-timeless-it-is-always-the-present/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Sometimes I would have to take my glasses off simply so the world would smudge and recede for a moment and cease to seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/sometimes-i-would-have-to-take-my-glasses-off-simply-so-the-world/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [“When we talk about literature, we do so in the present tense. When we speak of the dead, we are not so kind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/when-we-talk-about-literature-we-do-so-in-the-present-tense-when-we/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [The past is something for you to learn from and the future is something that you hope is going to happen, but I'm always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katt-williams/the-past-is-something-for-you-to-learn-from-and-the-future-is/) [Katt Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katt-williams/) > [Chronocanine Envy: Sadness experienced when one realized that, unlike one's dog, one cannot live only in the present tense. As Kierkegaard said, "Life must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/chronocanine-envy-sadness-experienced-when-one-realized-that-unlike/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [There's a desire for me in the work, even when I'm looking at the past, to be looking from the present. It's to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoe-leonard/there-s-a-desire-for-me-in-the-work-even-when-i-m-looking-at-the-past/) [Zoe Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoe-leonard/) > [And the first till last alshemist wrote over every square inch of the only foolscap available, his own body, till by its corrosive sublimation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/and-the-first-till-last-alshemist-wrote-over-every-square-inch-of-the/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Life is like a grammar lesson. You find the past perfect and the present tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/life-is-like-a-grammar-lesson-you-find-the-past-perfect-and-the/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [“That’s probably the worst thing about death. Is turns into was. Everything that was once present tense is now in the past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-reese/that-s-probably-the-worst-thing-about-death-is-turns-into-was/) [Caleb Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-reese/) > [My last defense / Is the present tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/my-last-defense-is-the-present-tense/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) ## More by David Foster Wallace > [“I felt more solidly composed, now that I was horizontal. I was impossible to knock down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-felt-more-solidly-composed-now-that-i-was-horizontal-i-was/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“We all have our little solipsistic delusions, ghastly intuitions of utter singularity: that we are the only one in the house who ever fills…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/we-all-have-our-little-solipsistic-delusions-ghastly-intuitions-of/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“It's no accident that in a bureaucracy getting fired is called 'termination,' as in ontological erasure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-s-no-accident-that-in-a-bureaucracy-getting-fired-is-called/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Footnote: 79) The anchor is gigantic and must weigh a hundred tons, and -- delightfully -- it really is anchor-shaped, i.e. the same shape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/footnote-79-the-anchor-is-gigantic-and-must-weigh-a-hundred-tons-and/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“The paradoxical intercourse of audience and celebrity. The suppressed awareness that the whole reason ordinary people found celebrity fascinating was that they were not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/the-paradoxical-intercourse-of-audience-and-celebrity-the-suppressed/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“I am coming to see that the sensation of the worst nightmares, a sensation that can be felt asleep or awake, is identical to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-am-coming-to-see-that-the-sensation-of-the-worst-nightmares-a/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“He cranks the condo’s AC way down at night and still most mornings wakes up soaked, fetally curled, entombed in that kind of psychic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/he-cranks-the-condo-s-ac-way-down-at-night-and-still-most-mornings/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“To me, at least in retrospect, the really interesting question is why dullness proves to be such a powerful impediment to attention. Why we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-me-at-least-in-retrospect-the-really-interesting-question-is-why/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“If you’re subjected to enough great salesmen and salespitches and marketing concepts for long enough—like from your earliest Saturday-morning cartoons, let’s say—it is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/if-you-re-subjected-to-enough-great-salesmen-and-salespitches-and/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“Why is the truth usually not just un- but anti-interesting?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/why-is-the-truth-usually-not-just-un-but-anti-interesting/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“She almost reminds the engineer of certain types in high school whom everyone adored because you sensed it made no difference to them whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/she-almost-reminds-the-engineer-of-certain-types-in-high-school-whom/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [To be, in a word, unborable… It is the key to modern life. If you are immune to boredom, there is literally nothing you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-be-in-a-word-unborable-it-is-the-key-to-modern-life-if-you-are/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“It is within your power to experience a crowded, loud, slow, consumer-hell-type situation as not only meaningful but sacred, on fire with the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-is-within-your-power-to-experience-a-crowded-loud-slow-consumer/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“The happy pleasure of the person alone, yes?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/the-happy-pleasure-of-the-person-alone-yes/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [There is such a thing as raw, unalloyed, agendaless kindness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/there-is-such-a-thing-as-raw-unalloyed-agendaless-kindness/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) [Explore all 999 David Foster Wallace quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Ideally, each piece of art's its own unique object, and its evaluation's always present-tense.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Foster Wallace" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/ideally-each-piece-of-art-s-its-own-unique-object-and-its-evaluation/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/ideally-each-piece-of-art-s-its-own-unique-object-and-its-evaluation/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/967/david-foster-wallace-161_art_ideally-each-piece-of-art-s-its-own-uniq_1663652.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/967/david-foster-wallace-161_art_ideally-each-piece-of-art-s-its-own-uniq_1663652.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/967/david-foster-wallace-161_art_ideally-each-piece-of-art-s-its-own-uniq_1663652.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Ideally, each piece of art's its own unique object, and its evaluation's always present-tense.” — David Foster Wallace", "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": "David Foster Wallace", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Ideally, each piece of art's its...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/ideally-each-piece-of-art-s-its-own-unique-object-and-its-evaluation/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/ideally-each-piece-of-art-s-its-own-unique-object-and-its-evaluation/#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 } } ] } ```