--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was '86. We were a big enough name and…" description: "\"It was '86. We were a big enough name and we had enough cache that MTV wanted to play us, so, along with Michael Jackson and Madonna, they played our u..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5c/michael-stipe-6714_art_it-was-86-we-were-a-big-enough-name-and_2892114.jpg" --- # It was '86. We were a big enough name and we had enough… ![“It was '86. We were a big enough name and we had enough cache that MTV wanted to play us, so, along with Michael Jackson and Madonna, they played our upside-down, black-and-white, backward, single unedited footage of a rock quarry with orange letters over the top of it and called it art.” quote by Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5c/michael-stipe-6714_art_it-was-86-we-were-a-big-enough-name-and_2892114.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5c/michael-stipe-6714_art_it-was-86-we-were-a-big-enough-name-and_2892114.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5c/michael-stipe-6714_art_it-was-86-we-were-a-big-enough-name-and_2892114.jpg) > “It was '86. We were a big enough name and we had enough cache that MTV wanted to play us, so, along with Michael Jackson and Madonna, they played our upside-down, black-and-white, backward, single unedited footage of a rock quarry with orange letters over the top of it and called it art.” [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. MTV treated unconventional footage as art, highlighting how media can elevate mundane visuals into cultural statements. **In simple terms:** Media can turn ordinary scenes into art. Key Takeaway Leverage unexpected visuals to capture attention. Themes media art culture music video nostalgia Mood reflective critical Type cultural media When to use this quote - music video production - art installations - media studies - branding campaigns Key Concepts aesthetic recontextualization media influence pop culture Questions to Reflect On - What makes a visual piece “art” in media? - How does context change perception? A Different Perspective Risk of being dismissed as gimmick if not authentic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Bigs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bigs/) [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Black and white](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-and-white/) [Cache](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cache/) [Cache Mtv](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cache-mtv-4066733/) [Called Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/called-art-751821/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Footage Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/footage-rock-4066734/) [Had enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/had-enough/) [Letters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letters/) [Mtv](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mtv/) [Mtv Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mtv-wanted-326254/) [Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names/) [Orange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orange/) [Over the top](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/over-the-top/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Played Upside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/played-upside-4066735/) [Quarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quarry/) [Rocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rocks/) [Upside down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/upside-down/) [Videos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/videos/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white/) ## Related quotes > [MTV wanted to downplay our lifestyles and pretend we weren't getting the checks that we actually were, so I think that was the blurry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-montag/mtv-wanted-to-downplay-our-lifestyles-and-pretend-we-weren-t-getting/) [Heidi Montag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-montag/) > [When we signed with Warner Bros., they knew what they were getting. 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And yes, it has tremendous cache…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-sutter/what-happens-on-mad-men-in-terms-of-the-acting-and-the-writing-and/) [Kurt Sutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-sutter/) > [“La vérité d’un homme c’est d’abord ce qu’il cache.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/la-v-rit-d-un-homme-c-est-d-abord-ce-qu-il-cache/) [André Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [I never said that movies were struggling behind TV. I'm just saying that movies have a better creative cache.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patton-oswalt/i-never-said-that-movies-were-struggling-behind-tv-i-m-just-saying/) [Patton Oswalt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patton-oswalt/) > [“high-demand items are placed in a different area, more quickly accessible than the rest. That area is Amazon’s cache.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-christian/high-demand-items-are-placed-in-a-different-area-more-quickly/) [Brian Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-christian/) > [“The Fatal Cache to be release in the next few weeks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-fatal-cache-to-be-release-in-the-next-few-weeks/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The fact that 'True Blood' affects people in this way is incredible to me - the fact we have to go to such great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-kwanten/the-fact-that-true-blood-affects-people-in-this-way-is-incredible-to/) [Ryan Kwanten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-kwanten/) > [The idea that hardware on networks should just be caches for movable process descriptions and the processes themselves goes back quite a ways. There's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kay/the-idea-that-hardware-on-networks-should-just-be-caches-for-movable/) [Alan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kay/) > [Who was I, really? I was the sole occupant of my mother's totalitarian state, my own personal history rewritten to fit the story she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/who-was-i-really-i-was-the-sole-occupant-of-my-mother-s-totalitarian/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [I've really dreamed of doing television. All of us do television, coming up. But when I was coming up, television was a black hole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-bob-thornton/i-ve-really-dreamed-of-doing-television-all-of-us-do-television/) [Billy Bob Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-bob-thornton/) > [Turkey, unlike chicken, has very elegant characteristics. It has more of a cache than chicken. Turkey is a delicacy, so it should be presented…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-english/turkey-unlike-chicken-has-very-elegant-characteristics-it-has-more-of/) [Todd English](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-english/) > [But elimination will only happen if all countries - nuclear and non-nuclear states - genuinely work towards this result. Nuclear states must abolish their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-g-weeramantry/but-elimination-will-only-happen-if-all-countries-nuclear-and-non/) [C. G. 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I'm not great with that level of substance abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/frankly-i-m-not-great-with-heroin-addicts-i-tried-heroin-but-it-was/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) > [The whole punk ethic was do-it-yourself, and I've always been very literal, especially as a kid. 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Brad Pitt is exactly three years younger than me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/to-be-called-an-elder-statesman-is-so-unbelievably-insulting-brad/) [Michael Stipe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) [Explore all 98 Michael Stipe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-stipe/) ## 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. 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We were a big enough name and we had enough cache that MTV wanted to play us, so, along with Michael Jackson and Madonna, they played our upside-down, black-and-white, backward, single unedited footage of a rock quarry with orange letters over the top of it and called it art.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Stipe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/it-was-86-we-were-a-big-enough-name-and-we-had-enough-cache-that-mtv/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-stipe/it-was-86-we-were-a-big-enough-name-and-we-had-enough-cache-that-mtv/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5c/michael-stipe-6714_art_it-was-86-we-were-a-big-enough-name-and_2892114.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5c/michael-stipe-6714_art_it-was-86-we-were-a-big-enough-name-and_2892114.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5c/michael-stipe-6714_art_it-was-86-we-were-a-big-enough-name-and_2892114.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It was '86. 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