--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: At some point I realized that the text…" description: "\"At some point I realized that the text was the painting and that everything else was extraneous. The painting became the act of writing a text on a can..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/glenn-ligon-10867_abstraction_at-some-point-i-realized-that-the-text-w_1814528.png" --- # At some point I realized that the text was the painting… ![“At some point I realized that the text was the painting and that everything else was extraneous. The painting became the act of writing a text on a canvas, but in all my work, text turns into abstraction.” quote by Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/glenn-ligon-10867_abstraction_at-some-point-i-realized-that-the-text-w_1814528.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/glenn-ligon-10867_abstraction_at-some-point-i-realized-that-the-text-w_1814528.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/glenn-ligon-10867_abstraction_at-some-point-i-realized-that-the-text-w_1814528.png) > “At some point I realized that the text was the painting and that everything else was extraneous. The painting became the act of writing a text on a canvas, but in all my work, text turns into abstraction.” [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Recognizing that language itself can be a visual medium, making other elements unnecessary. **In simple terms:** Words can become visual art. Key Takeaway Explore textual abstraction. Themes art language abstraction Mood contemplative intellectual Type conceptual artistic When to use this quote - gallery installations - creative writing - digital media Key Concepts visual poetry conceptual art Questions to Reflect On - How does visual text change your reading experience? - Can abstraction convey meaning as effectively as description? A Different Perspective Risk of losing narrative clarity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Canvas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/) [Extraneous Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extraneous-painting-2142442/) [I realized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-realized/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Painting Extraneous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting-extraneous-2142443/) [Realized Text](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realized-text-2142445/) [Text Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/text-painting-2142444/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [A lot of my work is about text taken to the point of abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/a-lot-of-my-work-is-about-text-taken-to-the-point-of-abstraction/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [Jazz musicians like John Coltrane needed these very clear titles for their abstract music, and your decision to bring voices into your music as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/jazz-musicians-like-john-coltrane-needed-these-very-clear-titles-for/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [At a lecture, a guy said to me, "You know, when I look at your work, I don't know what I'm looking at, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/at-a-lecture-a-guy-said-to-me-you-know-when-i-look-at-your-work-i-don/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [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/) > [Don't get stuck on the level of words. A word is no more than a means to an end. It's an abstraction. Not unlike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/don-t-get-stuck-on-the-level-of-words-a-word-is-no-more-than-a-means/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [In 'Self Comes to Mind' I pay a lot of attention to simple creatures without brains or minds, because those 'cartooned abstractions of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/in-self-comes-to-mind-i-pay-a-lot-of-attention-to-simple-creatures/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-aho/computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstraction-creating-the-right-model/) [Alfred Aho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-aho/) > [Yes, there was an element of abstraction and unreality in misfortune. But when an abstraction starts to kill you, you have to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/yes-there-was-an-element-of-abstraction-and-unreality-in-misfortune/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Cancer begins and ends with people. In the midst of scientific abstraction, it is sometimes possible to forget this one basic fact. Doctors treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-goodfield/cancer-begins-and-ends-with-people-in-the-midst-of-scientific/) [June Goodfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-goodfield/) > [I like residing in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-like-residing-in-abstraction/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. A surprising variety of things happen to have both magnitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banesh-hoffmann/but-we-must-not-underestimate-the-potency-of-the-mathematical-process/) [Banesh Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banesh-hoffmann/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) ## More by Glenn Ligon > [Throughout African-American literature, the writer has, in a sense, been burdened by the necessity of pleading the case for the whole race. For example,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/throughout-african-american-literature-the-writer-has-in-a-sense-been/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [Race is not something inherent to one's being: One does feel more or less colored, depending on the situation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/race-is-not-something-inherent-to-one-s-being-one-does-feel-more-or/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [I think there's an interest right now in the performance aspect of artworks, instead of just hanging things on walls. We're in a moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/i-think-there-s-an-interest-right-now-in-the-performance-aspect-of/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [A key text for me is James Baldwin's essays. And, in particular, his essay Stranger in the Village. It's a text that I've used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/a-key-text-for-me-is-james-baldwin-s-essays-and-in-particular-his/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [It's a great idea: to feel the rhythm of something by seeing how it flows on a page.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/it-s-a-great-idea-to-feel-the-rhythm-of-something-by-seeing-how-it/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [So much of my work has been about disappearing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/so-much-of-my-work-has-been-about-disappearing/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [I'm interested in when language fails, when it is opaque.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/i-m-interested-in-when-language-fails-when-it-is-opaque/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [In writing, something is always left out: it can't be articulated in the space of an essay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/in-writing-something-is-always-left-out-it-can-t-be-articulated-in/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [Willem de Kooning paintings are a language to be learned. When they were first shown, they were ridiculed as being just drips and splatters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/willem-de-kooning-paintings-are-a-language-to-be-learned-when-they/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [Much of my work is engaged with 'America' - the idea of America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/much-of-my-work-is-engaged-with-america-the-idea-of-america/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [My mother really didn't come from artists. Her famous quote to me was, "The only artists I've ever heard of are dead." The pottery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/my-mother-really-didn-t-come-from-artists-her-famous-quote-to-me-was/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [I like having a studio to go to. It's like having a job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/i-like-having-a-studio-to-go-to-it-s-like-having-a-job/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [I switched up so that I could work 12-hour shifts at the firm on the weekends so I could have days free to paint.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/i-switched-up-so-that-i-could-work-12-hour-shifts-at-the-firm-on-the/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [I graduated from Wesleyan University with a b.a. in art. I was really headed toward an architecture degree, but when I did the requirements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/i-graduated-from-wesleyan-university-with-a-b-a-in-art-i-was-really/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [One of the interesting things about quoting in an artwork is that there is a repeated confusion about who is speaking - one essentially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/one-of-the-interesting-things-about-quoting-in-an-artwork-is-that/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) [Explore all 63 Glenn Ligon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) ## More Abstraction quotes > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. A surprising variety of things happen to have both magnitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banesh-hoffmann/but-we-must-not-underestimate-the-potency-of-the-mathematical-process/) [Banesh Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banesh-hoffmann/) > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I like residing in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-like-residing-in-abstraction/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Cancer begins and ends with people. In the midst of scientific abstraction, it is sometimes possible to forget this one basic fact. Doctors treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-goodfield/cancer-begins-and-ends-with-people-in-the-midst-of-scientific/) [June Goodfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-goodfield/) > [Yes, there was an element of abstraction and unreality in misfortune. But when an abstraction starts to kill you, you have to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/yes-there-was-an-element-of-abstraction-and-unreality-in-misfortune/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-aho/computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstraction-creating-the-right-model/) [Alfred Aho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-aho/) > [In 'Self Comes to Mind' I pay a lot of attention to simple creatures without brains or minds, because those 'cartooned abstractions of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/in-self-comes-to-mind-i-pay-a-lot-of-attention-to-simple-creatures/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [Don't get stuck on the level of words. A word is no more than a means to an end. It's an abstraction. Not unlike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/don-t-get-stuck-on-the-level-of-words-a-word-is-no-more-than-a-means/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [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/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [ I'd say that \[Louis\] Brandeis practiced a kind of a "living originalism," to use the title of Jack Balkin's great book. He said you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-rosen/i-d-say-that-louis-brandeis-practiced-a-kind-of-a-living-originalism/) [Jeffrey Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-rosen/) > [When novels deal in abstractions, they generally go off the rails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/when-novels-deal-in-abstractions-they-generally-go-off-the-rails/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) [Browse all 562 Abstraction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "At some point I realized that the text was the painting and that everything else was extraneous. 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