--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Some of the most radical work is being…" description: "\"Some of the most radical work is being done in the most commercially pop venues, and some of the most boring work is being done in avant-garde territor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a5/harmony-korine-8808_avant-garde_some-of-the-most-radical-work-is-being-d_959667.jpg" --- # Some of the most radical work is being done in the most… ![“Some of the most radical work is being done in the most commercially pop venues, and some of the most boring work is being done in avant-garde territory.” quote by Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a5/harmony-korine-8808_avant-garde_some-of-the-most-radical-work-is-being-d_959667.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a5/harmony-korine-8808_avant-garde_some-of-the-most-radical-work-is-being-d_959667.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a5/harmony-korine-8808_avant-garde_some-of-the-most-radical-work-is-being-d_959667.jpg) > “Some of the most radical work is being done in the most commercially pop venues, and some of the most boring work is being done in avant-garde territory.” [Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Radical, innovative work often appears in mainstream venues, while safe, conventional work can be found in avant‑garde spaces. **In simple terms:** Innovation isn’t limited to niche scenes. Key Takeaway Look beyond labels for true originality. Themes innovation commercialism artistic value Mood critical curious Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - gallery curating - festival programming - media criticism Key Concepts cultural paradox audience expectations Questions to Reflect On - What defines “radical” for you? - How can avant‑garde stay fresh? A Different Perspective Avant‑garde can become complacent, mainstream can be daring. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Avant garde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/avant-garde/) [Being](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being/) [Commercially](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commercially/) [Pop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pop/) [Radical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radical/) [Territory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/territory/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [I describe myself as boring; all I do is work, and I'm a music lover.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perez-hilton/i-describe-myself-as-boring-all-i-do-is-work-and-i-m-a-music-lover/) [Perez Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/perez-hilton/) > [Loveless work, boring work, work valued only because others haven't got even that much, however loveless and boring--this is one of the harshest human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wislawa-szymborska/loveless-work-boring-work-work-valued-only-because-others-haven-t-got/) [Wislawa Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wislawa-szymborska/) > [Doing something that empowers people makes you realise how boring it would be to work for a place where the goal is just to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taavet-hinrikus/doing-something-that-empowers-people-makes-you-realise-how-boring-it/) [Taavet Hinrikus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taavet-hinrikus/) > [Saying the Tech Bloom is not commercially driven is like saying Mother Teresa had an interest in the poor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/saying-the-tech-bloom-is-not-commercially-driven-is-like-saying/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) > [All the music that I've made in the past I've believed in. I think some of it has been more commercially successful than others,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sanborn/all-the-music-that-i-ve-made-in-the-past-i-ve-believed-in-i-think/) [David Sanborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sanborn/) > [Even if major funding is obtained for cold fusion, conceivably the phenomenon could suffer from problems as intractable as those of hot fusion. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-platt/even-if-major-funding-is-obtained-for-cold-fusion-conceivably-the/) [Charles Platt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-platt/) > [I think a lot of the most interesting work in art and in films are often kind of polarized opinions and affect people in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-cole/i-think-a-lot-of-the-most-interesting-work-in-art-and-in-films-are/) [Lily Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-cole/) > [All the work that I do, whether or not it ends up being commercially successful or not, feels like the most important thing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ian-black/all-the-work-that-i-do-whether-or-not-it-ends-up-being-commercially/) [Michael Ian Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ian-black/) > [I like independent movies, documentaries. There's not a lot of movies that are commercially made that I dig.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-garlin/i-like-independent-movies-documentaries-there-s-not-a-lot-of-movies/) [Jeff Garlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-garlin/) > [I didn't become a commercially successful artist by design, and actually I think that commercially successful just means, if you analyse it, that a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-collins/i-didn-t-become-a-commercially-successful-artist-by-design-and/) [Phil Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-collins/) > [We're not trying to be esoteric. There is that about what we do, but we like to be there at the table with everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-mael/we-re-not-trying-to-be-esoteric-there-is-that-about-what-we-do-but-we/) [Ron Mael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-mael/) > [There was a mission: To match the cover of 'Extraordinary' to the cover of the paperback 'Impossible,' which was commercially successful. Consider the outdoor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-werlin/there-was-a-mission-to-match-the-cover-of-extraordinary-to-the-cover/) [Nancy Werlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-werlin/) > [You have to learn to overcome those feelings when somebody is negative about a production you love or if that production doesn't do well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-paice/you-have-to-learn-to-overcome-those-feelings-when-somebody-is/) Jill Paice > [That's the reason support for the National Endowment of the Arts is so important. It enables those ventures that aren't viable commercially to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-selby/that-s-the-reason-support-for-the-national-endowment-of-the-arts-is/) [David Selby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-selby/) > [I have cut four albums so far, and all of them have been trendsetters and commercially successful. I believe that once you start taking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kailash-kher/i-have-cut-four-albums-so-far-and-all-of-them-have-been-trendsetters/) [Kailash Kher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kailash-kher/) ## More by Harmony Korine > [A scientist shouldn't be asked to judge the economic and moral value of his work. All we should ask the scientist to do is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/a-scientist-shouldn-t-be-asked-to-judge-the-economic-and-moral-value/) [Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) > [I've started lots of books, but it's hard for me to finish them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/i-ve-started-lots-of-books-but-it-s-hard-for-me-to-finish-them/) [Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) > [I'd always heard stories about how Harpo Marx was the most talkative of the Marx brothers. I found it interesting that someone you never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/i-d-always-heard-stories-about-how-harpo-marx-was-the-most-talkative/) [Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) > [ The first time I hung out with \[David Blaine\], he took me to this condemned building, and it had a pizza oven and he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/the-first-time-i-hung-out-with-david-blaine-he-took-me-to-this/) [Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) > [Here's the thing that people don't understand: I don't really care. I've never been a careerist. It's not a strategy. I react to certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/here-s-the-thing-that-people-don-t-understand-i-don-t-really-care-i/) [Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) > [What makes Gucci Mane Gucci Mane is like what made Frank Sinatra Frank Sinatra - it's just him. He's trap's Frank Sinatra.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/what-makes-gucci-mane-gucci-mane-is-like-what-made-frank-sinatra/) [Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) > [I tried working odd jobs that had nothing to do with creating, and it was difficult for me. In the end, I just always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/i-tried-working-odd-jobs-that-had-nothing-to-do-with-creating-and-it/) [Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) > [I always wanted the films to play in malls, and I wanted as many people as possible to see them. I never want them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/i-always-wanted-the-films-to-play-in-malls-and-i-wanted-as-many/) [Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) > [I look at WorldstarHipHop in the morning, Bossip, Global Grind, and everything in between, but it's all so quick, I don't even think about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/i-look-at-worldstarhiphop-in-the-morning-bossip-global-grind-and/) [Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) > [I just haven't let myself get to a place where I've felt a part of any kind of a community, so I've always stayed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/i-just-haven-t-let-myself-get-to-a-place-where-i-ve-felt-a-part-of/) [Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) > [My knock with filmmaking is the whole bureaucracy around it, so in some ways, staying outside of it is easier for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/my-knock-with-filmmaking-is-the-whole-bureaucracy-around-it-so-in/) [Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) > [Editing is fun for me. That's where you make things happen. Filming a movie, I just try to set things up and see where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/editing-is-fun-for-me-that-s-where-you-make-things-happen-filming-a/) [Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) > [Ever since I was little, I would just make stories up in my mind. It was based on people I saw in the street…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/ever-since-i-was-little-i-would-just-make-stories-up-in-my-mind-it/) [Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) > [It's hard to say things without coming off in a certain way, but at a young age, I felt very driven. All I ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/it-s-hard-to-say-things-without-coming-off-in-a-certain-way-but-at-a/) [Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) > [Gucci Mane is trap rap's Frank Sinatra.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/gucci-mane-is-trap-rap-s-frank-sinatra/) [Harmony Korine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) [Explore all 77 Harmony Korine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/) ## More Avant garde quotes > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [Well, the reason that I teach at Bard is because it's a largely avant-garde program.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-reichardt/well-the-reason-that-i-teach-at-bard-is-because-it-s-a-largely-avant/) [Kelly Reichardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-reichardt/) > [Noise has taken the place of punk rock. People who play noise have no real aspirations to being part of the mainstream culture. Punk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurston-moore/noise-has-taken-the-place-of-punk-rock-people-who-play-noise-have-no/) [Thurston Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurston-moore/) > [I am, it seems, an avant-garde dramatist. It would even seem obvious since I am present here at discussions on the avant-garde theatre. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eug-ne-ionesco/i-am-it-seems-an-avant-garde-dramatist-it-would-even-seem-obvious/) [Eugene Ionesco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eug-ne-ionesco/) > [There is a book called San Francisco Tape Music Centre:1960s Counterculture and the Avant-Garde and this book describes everything that you want to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-oliveros/there-is-a-book-called-san-francisco-tape-music-centre-1960s/) [Pauline Oliveros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-oliveros/) > [Once you got Hollywood doing these kinds of movies and having all the, how you say, the tools to do it, and also to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/violante-placido/once-you-got-hollywood-doing-these-kinds-of-movies-and-having-all-the/) [Violante Placido](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/violante-placido/) > [On the surface the avant garde as a whole seems united primarily in terms of what they are against: the rejection of social institutions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-innes/on-the-surface-the-avant-garde-as-a-whole-seems-united-primarily-in/) C. D. Innes > [ Avant-garde theatre, with its distrust of the individual (that bourgeois invention), tends to go beyond \[character\] and the psychological approach in search of a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrice-pavis/avant-garde-theatre-with-its-distrust-of-the-individual-that/) Patrice Pavis > [“There is nothing more profitable than the extreme avant garde.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silvia-hartmann/there-is-nothing-more-profitable-than-the-extreme-avant-garde/) [Silvia Hartmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silvia-hartmann/) > [Avant-garde means never having to say you're sorry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-ribot/avant-garde-means-never-having-to-say-you-re-sorry/) [Marc Ribot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-ribot/) > [“My avant garde planters complete, they now yearned to be occupied.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-puchalski/my-avant-garde-planters-complete-they-now-yearned-to-be-occupied/) Matt Puchalski > [Now there is no taboo; everything is allowed. But one cannot simply go back to tonality, it’s not the way. We must find a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gyorgy-ligeti/now-there-is-no-taboo-everything-is-allowed-but-one-cannot-simply-go/) [Gyorgy Ligeti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gyorgy-ligeti/) > [In an avant-garde cooking restaurant, it's the experience that's the difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferran-adria/in-an-avant-garde-cooking-restaurant-it-s-the-experience-that-s-the/) [Ferran Adria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferran-adria/) > [The avant-garde poet or artist tries in effect to imitate God by creating something valid solely on its own terms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-greenberg/the-avant-garde-poet-or-artist-tries-in-effect-to-imitate-god-by/) [Clement Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-greenberg/) > [I like African and avant-garde music, anything that's vaguely interesting. Hard rock I get a bit bored with because it's what I do. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-glover/i-like-african-and-avant-garde-music-anything-that-s-vaguely/) [Roger Glover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-glover/) [Browse all 202 Avant garde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/avant-garde/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Some of the most radical work is being done in the most commercially pop venues, and some of the most boring work is being done in avant-garde territory.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Harmony Korine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/some-of-the-most-radical-work-is-being-done-in-the-most-commercially/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Avant garde" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/some-of-the-most-radical-work-is-being-done-in-the-most-commercially/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a5/harmony-korine-8808_avant-garde_some-of-the-most-radical-work-is-being-d_959667.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a5/harmony-korine-8808_avant-garde_some-of-the-most-radical-work-is-being-d_959667.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a5/harmony-korine-8808_avant-garde_some-of-the-most-radical-work-is-being-d_959667.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Some of the most radical work is being done in the most commercially pop venues, and some of the most boring…” — Harmony Korine", "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": "Harmony Korine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harmony-korine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Some of the most radical work...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/some-of-the-most-radical-work-is-being-done-in-the-most-commercially/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harmony-korine/some-of-the-most-radical-work-is-being-done-in-the-most-commercially/#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 } } ] } ```