--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But I would like to reach the point where…" description: "\"But I would like to reach the point where I could cut up an illustrated magazine at random and see to it that the parts would each become a painting. I..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65a/gerhard-richter-2249_artifice_but-i-would-like-to-reach-the-point-wher_2778256.jpg" --- # But I would like to reach the point where I could cut up… ![“But I would like to reach the point where I could cut up an illustrated magazine at random and see to it that the parts would each become a painting. I cannot properly explain it right now. Already now I am searching for the most boring and irrelevant photo material that I can find. And I would…” quote by Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65a/gerhard-richter-2249_artifice_but-i-would-like-to-reach-the-point-wher_2778256.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65a/gerhard-richter-2249_artifice_but-i-would-like-to-reach-the-point-wher_2778256.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65a/gerhard-richter-2249_artifice_but-i-would-like-to-reach-the-point-wher_2778256.jpg) > “But I would like to reach the point where I could cut up an illustrated magazine at random and see to it that the parts would each become a painting. I cannot properly explain it right now. Already now I am searching for the most boring and irrelevant photo material that I can find. And I would like to get to the point soon where this determined irrelevance could be retained, in favor of something that would be covered up otherwise by artifice.” [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Richter seeks to transform mundane, irrelevant images into art, emphasizing the deliberate choice of boring material to reveal hidden value **In simple terms:** He wants to turn ordinary photos into paintings by focusing on irrelevance Key Takeaway Embrace boredom to discover artistic potential Themes art creativity transformation Mood contemplative inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - photography selection - painting creation - concept development - art education Key Concepts aesthetic theory visual perception conceptual art Questions to Reflect On - How can ordinary images become meaningful art? - What role does boredom play in creativity? A Different Perspective The process may be too abstract for practical application without clear guidelines ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Covered up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/covered-up/) [Determined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/determined/) [Irrelevance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irrelevance/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) ## Related quotes > [Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/actually-we-who-engage-in-nonviolent-direct-action-are-not-the/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [In various ways all of us should be constantly finding people and situations that are dead, buried, and covered up in order to help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/millard-fuller/in-various-ways-all-of-us-should-be-constantly-finding-people-and/) [Millard Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/millard-fuller/) > [If you're over 60, arms are not pretty, so I think you should stay covered up. But wear what's appropriate for what you're doing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-apfel/if-you-re-over-60-arms-are-not-pretty-so-i-think-you-should-stay/) [Iris Apfel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-apfel/) > [Not everyone knows how to be silent or to leave in good time. It happens that even people of good breeding fail to notice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/not-everyone-knows-how-to-be-silent-or-to-leave-in-good-time-it/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [I confess I do not admire naked boys. They always seem to me to need clothes, whereas one hardly sees why the lovely forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/i-confess-i-do-not-admire-naked-boys-they-always-seem-to-me-to-need/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [I'm working on the Star Wars script today and the people in my office have covered up all my windows with black paper. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-j-abrams/i-m-working-on-the-star-wars-script-today-and-the-people-in-my-office/) [J. J. Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-j-abrams/) > [It looks like bribery. I mean,there is every appearance that Hillary Clinton was bribed to grease the sale of, what, 20 percent of America's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jedediah-bila/it-looks-like-bribery-i-mean-there-is-every-appearance-that-hillary/) [Jedediah Bila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jedediah-bila/) > [If you make a street poster and literally paste it on the street in a city like New York, where it's such a mixed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-drooker/if-you-make-a-street-poster-and-literally-paste-it-on-the-street-in-a/) [Eric Drooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-drooker/) > [If I'm going to show cleavage or chest then I don't show leg. I show one thing. If I show leg then everything else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/if-i-m-going-to-show-cleavage-or-chest-then-i-don-t-show-leg-i-show/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) > [South Africa used to seem so far away. Then it came home to me. It began to signify the meaning of white hatred here.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-jordan/south-africa-used-to-seem-so-far-away-then-it-came-home-to-me-it/) [June Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-jordan/) > [However it may be confounded or covered up or counterfeited, this elemental capacity to fight against injustice remains the distinguishing characteristic of human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/however-it-may-be-confounded-or-covered-up-or-counterfeited-this/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [I dream about speaking in big forums about issues that need to be spoken about. I dream about helping others who I know and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-keys/i-dream-about-speaking-in-big-forums-about-issues-that-need-to-be/) [Alicia Keys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-keys/) > [think it's easy to find girls in climates where their bodies are exposed. Obviously, if you go scouting in Alaska, you're not going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-flutie/think-it-s-easy-to-find-girls-in-climates-where-their-bodies-are/) [Michael Flutie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-flutie/) > [Character is an essential tendency. It can be covered up, it can be messed with, it can be screwed around with, but it can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-shepard/character-is-an-essential-tendency-it-can-be-covered-up-it-can-be/) [Sam Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-shepard/) > [Hana, everything that God made valuable in the world is covered and hard to get to. Where do you find diamonds? Deep down in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/hana-everything-that-god-made-valuable-in-the-world-is-covered-and/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) ## More by Gerhard Richter > [Art shows us how to see things that are constructive and good, and to be an active part of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/art-shows-us-how-to-see-things-that-are-constructive-and-good-and-to/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [They are specific places I have discovered here and there when I am on the road to take photos. I go especially to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/they-are-specific-places-i-have-discovered-here-and-there-when-i-am/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [To me, grey is the welcome and only possible equivalent for indifference, noncommitment, absence of opinion, absence of shape. But grey, like formlessness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/to-me-grey-is-the-welcome-and-only-possible-equivalent-for/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [Now that we do not have priests and philosophers any more, artists are the most important people in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/now-that-we-do-not-have-priests-and-philosophers-any-more-artists-are/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [Yes, we were amazed when that happened. It was a real joke to us. Konrad Lueg and I did a Happening, and we used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/yes-we-were-amazed-when-that-happened-it-was-a-real-joke-to-us-konrad/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [A work of art is itself an object, first of all, and so manipulation is unavoidable: it's a prerequisite. But I needed the greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/a-work-of-art-is-itself-an-object-first-of-all-and-so-manipulation-is/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [The photograph is the only picture that can truly convey information, even if it is technically faulty and the object can barely be identified.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/the-photograph-is-the-only-picture-that-can-truly-convey-information/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [Perhaps the choice is a negative one, in that I was trying to avoid everything that touched on well-known issues - or any issues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/perhaps-the-choice-is-a-negative-one-in-that-i-was-trying-to-avoid/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [Gray is the color... the most important of all... absent of opinion, nothing, neither/nor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/gray-is-the-color-the-most-important-of-all-absent-of-opinion-nothing/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [All photographs are far more important than any painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/all-photographs-are-far-more-important-than-any-painting/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [You can compare it to dreams: you have a very specific and individual pictorial language that you either accept or that you can translate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/you-can-compare-it-to-dreams-you-have-a-very-specific-and-individual/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [What attracted me about my mirrors was the idea of having nothing manipulated in them. A piece of bought mirror. Just hung there, without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/what-attracted-me-about-my-mirrors-was-the-idea-of-having-nothing/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [But it is also untrue that I have nothing specific in mind. As with my landscapes: I see countless landscapes, photograph barely 1 in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/but-it-is-also-untrue-that-i-have-nothing-specific-in-mind-as-with-my/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [My landscapes are not only beautiful or nostalgic, with a Romantic or classical suggestion of lost Paradises, but above all 'untruthful'...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/my-landscapes-are-not-only-beautiful-or-nostalgic-with-a-romantic-or/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [I have always been structured. What has changed is the proportions. Now it is eight hours of paperwork and one of painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-have-always-been-structured-what-has-changed-is-the-proportions-now/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) [Explore all 176 Gerhard Richter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) ## More Artifice quotes > [I did plays in college, and I have half of a play. But I'm kind of stuck. I keep revisiting it so maybe it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/i-did-plays-in-college-and-i-have-half-of-a-play-but-i-m-kind-of/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [It is sometimes necessary to play the fool to avoid being deceived by cunning men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/it-is-sometimes-necessary-to-play-the-fool-to-avoid-being-deceived-by/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [To the extent that I've ever understood postmodernism - and I'm sure there are people out there who do, but I'm not one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/to-the-extent-that-i-ve-ever-understood-postmodernism-and-i-m-sure/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [Films are artifice. We're telling stories on film. At the same time, when it works, there is a real tough immediacy and spontaneity to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mcgann/films-are-artifice-we-re-telling-stories-on-film-at-the-same-time/) [Paul McGann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mcgann/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [But since the Modernists (as they are commonly and rightly called) employ a very clever artifice, namely, to present their doctrines without order and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-x/but-since-the-modernists-as-they-are-commonly-and-rightly-called/) [Pope Pius X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-pius-x/) > [Being blond is definitely a different state of mind. I can't really put my finger on it, but the artifice of being blond has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madonna-ciccone/being-blond-is-definitely-a-different-state-of-mind-i-can-t-really/) [Madonna Ciccone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madonna-ciccone/) > [Cupid is naked and does not like artifices contrived by beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/propertius/cupid-is-naked-and-does-not-like-artifices-contrived-by-beauty/) [Propertius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/propertius/) > [The girl in the mirror caught my eye briefly...It is an uncanny feeling, that rare occasion when one catches a glimpse of oneself in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/the-girl-in-the-mirror-caught-my-eye-briefly-it-is-an-uncanny-feeling/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [Each day is a miracle that intoxicates me. I want more. I greet every morning like a new pleasure. And yet I am keenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malika-oufkir/each-day-is-a-miracle-that-intoxicates-me-i-want-more-i-greet-every/) Malika Oufkir > [If a close examination of the evidences of Christianity may be expected of one class of men more than another, it would seem incumbent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-greenleaf/if-a-close-examination-of-the-evidences-of-christianity-may-be/) [Simon Greenleaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-greenleaf/) > [By the word simplicity, is not always meant folly or ignorance; but often, pure and upright Nature, free from artifice, craft or deceitful ornament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/by-the-word-simplicity-is-not-always-meant-folly-or-ignorance-but/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [The younger and healthier a woman is and the more her new and glossy body seems destined for eternal freshness, the less useful is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-younger-and-healthier-a-woman-is-and-the-more-her-new-and-glossy/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [What! Would you make no distinction between hypocrisy and devotion? Would you give them the same names, and respect the mask as you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/what-would-you-make-no-distinction-between-hypocrisy-and-devotion/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Art lies by its own artifice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/art-lies-by-its-own-artifice/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) Browse all 166 Artifice quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But I would like to reach the point where I could cut up an illustrated magazine at random and see to it that the parts would each become a painting. I cannot properly explain it right now. Already now I am searching for the most boring and irrelevant photo material that I can find. And I would like to get to the point soon where this determined irrelevance could be retained, in favor of something that would be covered up otherwise by artifice.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerhard Richter" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/but-i-would-like-to-reach-the-point-where-i-could-cut-up-an/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Artifice" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/but-i-would-like-to-reach-the-point-where-i-could-cut-up-an/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65a/gerhard-richter-2249_artifice_but-i-would-like-to-reach-the-point-wher_2778256.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65a/gerhard-richter-2249_artifice_but-i-would-like-to-reach-the-point-wher_2778256.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/65a/gerhard-richter-2249_artifice_but-i-would-like-to-reach-the-point-wher_2778256.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But I would like to reach the point where I could cut up an illustrated magazine at random and see to it…” — Gerhard Richter", "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": "Gerhard Richter", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "But I would like to reach...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/but-i-would-like-to-reach-the-point-where-i-could-cut-up-an/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/but-i-would-like-to-reach-the-point-where-i-could-cut-up-an/#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 } } ] } ```