--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was not interested in irony; I wanted…" description: "\"I was not interested in irony; I wanted to emphasize the primacy of the idea in making art\" — Sol LeWitt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19e/sol-lewitt-11839_art_i-was-not-interested-in-irony-i-wanted-t_815233.jpg" --- # I was not interested in irony; I wanted to emphasize the… ![“I was not interested in irony; I wanted to emphasize the primacy of the idea in making art” quote by Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19e/sol-lewitt-11839_art_i-was-not-interested-in-irony-i-wanted-t_815233.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19e/sol-lewitt-11839_art_i-was-not-interested-in-irony-i-wanted-t_815233.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19e/sol-lewitt-11839_art_i-was-not-interested-in-irony-i-wanted-t_815233.jpg) > “I was not interested in irony; I wanted to emphasize the primacy of the idea in making art” [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) ## 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 prioritize the underlying idea over stylistic irony; concept drives meaning. **In simple terms:** Idea matters more than irony in art. Key Takeaway Focus on concept first. Themes art concept irony Mood thoughtful analytical Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - gallery curation - art education - creative brainstorming Key Concepts conceptual art creative process Questions to Reflect On - What idea drives your creative work? - How does irony affect audience perception? A Different Perspective Irony can distract from the core message. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Emphasize Primacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emphasize-primacy-312242/) [Interested Irony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interested-irony-312241/) [Irony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irony/) [Irony Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irony-wanted-312244/) [Making Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-art/) [Not interested](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/not-interested/) [Primacy Idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/primacy-idea-312243/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) ## Related quotes > [When I started making movies about weird people, I knew they were weird, I was infected with irony, and I wanted New York to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waters/when-i-started-making-movies-about-weird-people-i-knew-they-were/) [John Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waters/) > [Most of us start from that position of irony now and what I wanted to do - really felt like I had to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/most-of-us-start-from-that-position-of-irony-now-and-what-i-wanted-to/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [During the '70s I was interested in words and meaning as a way of making art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/during-the-70s-i-was-interested-in-words-and-meaning-as-a-way-of/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Making art is about accepting what’s going on around you and turning it into](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-frusciante/making-art-is-about-accepting-what-s-going-on-around-you-and-turning/) [John Frusciante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-frusciante/) > [To me, success is making a positive difference through art - making art that affects the world and that changes the way people feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-me-success-is-making-a-positive-difference-through-art-making-art/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Gloria was still talking, something about how shooting people was in a sense safer than making art, in terms of avoiding serious lapses in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kushner/gloria-was-still-talking-something-about-how-shooting-people-was-in-a/) [Rachel Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kushner/) > [Acting and making art is just something I love to do, and I love to tell stories that feel important, honest and necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoe-kravitz/acting-and-making-art-is-just-something-i-love-to-do-and-i-love-to/) [Zoe Kravitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoe-kravitz/) > [When you think about alien intelligences making art, you then have to think about what art is and how bound up it is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/when-you-think-about-alien-intelligences-making-art-you-then-have-to/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [The group is enthusiastic about making art, but it's also a good excuse to get together with friends and to enjoy each other's company…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jussi-lehtisalo/the-group-is-enthusiastic-about-making-art-but-it-s-also-a-good/) [Jussi Lehtisalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jussi-lehtisalo/) > [It's the way I enjoy making art - I like sitting down and making five beats; I enjoy that process. I can go two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-cole-2/it-s-the-way-i-enjoy-making-art-i-like-sitting-down-and-making-five/) [J. Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-cole-2/) > [In my eyes, making art is very often about something that you don't know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-weiner/in-my-eyes-making-art-is-very-often-about-something-that-you-don-t/) [Lawrence Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-weiner/) > [With Gnaw I was thinking about traditional sculpture, about carving. I was also interested in figurative sculpture. I put those two ideas together and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-antoni/with-gnaw-i-was-thinking-about-traditional-sculpture-about-carving-i/) [Janine Antoni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-antoni/) > [Pop artists work really hard, and they might not work for the same things that indie artists do, but they're still musicians, and they're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitski/pop-artists-work-really-hard-and-they-might-not-work-for-the-same/) [Mitski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitski/) > [The thing about writing or making art is that I'm not thinking about that stuff while I'm doing it. Like the driver's ed kid,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-martin/the-thing-about-writing-or-making-art-is-that-i-m-not-thinking-about/) [Chelsea Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-martin/) > [“Looking at and 'appreciating' art has been understood as an instrument (or at best a result) of upward mobility, in which owning art is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-r-lippard/looking-at-and-appreciating-art-has-been-understood-as-an-instrument/) [Lucy R. Lippard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-r-lippard/) ## More by Sol LeWitt > [New materials are one of the great afflictions of contemporary art. Some artists confuse new materials with new ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/new-materials-are-one-of-the-great-afflictions-of-contemporary-art/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [The artist is seen like a producer of commodities, like a factory that turns our refrigerators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/the-artist-is-seen-like-a-producer-of-commodities-like-a-factory-that/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Most ideas that are successful are ludicrously simple. Successful ideas generally have the appearance of simplicity because they seem inevitable. In terms of idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/most-ideas-that-are-successful-are-ludicrously-simple-successful/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Artists teach critics what to think. Critics repeat what the artists teach them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/artists-teach-critics-what-to-think-critics-repeat-what-the-artists/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [In my case, I used the elements of these simple forms - square, cube, line and color - to produce logical systems. Most of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/in-my-case-i-used-the-elements-of-these-simple-forms-square-cube-line/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Conceptual art became the liberating idea that gave the art of the next 40 years its real impetus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/conceptual-art-became-the-liberating-idea-that-gave-the-art-of-the/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [The narrative of serial art works more like music than like literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/the-narrative-of-serial-art-works-more-like-music-than-like-literature/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Just as the development of earth art and installation art stemmed from the idea of taking art out of the galleries, the basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/just-as-the-development-of-earth-art-and-installation-art-stemmed/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [I didn't want to save art - I respected the older artists too much to think art needed saving. But I knew it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/i-didn-t-want-to-save-art-i-respected-the-older-artists-too-much-to/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [One should be intelligent enough to know when not to be too intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/one-should-be-intelligent-enough-to-know-when-not-to-be-too/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [I wasn't really that interested in objects. I was interested in ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/i-wasn-t-really-that-interested-in-objects-i-was-interested-in-ideas/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Your work isn't a high stakes, nail-biting professional challenge. It's a form of play. Lighten up and have fun with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/your-work-isn-t-a-high-stakes-nail-biting-professional-challenge-it-s/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [All of the significant art of today stems from Conceptual art. This includes the art of installation, political, feminist and socially directed art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/all-of-the-significant-art-of-today-stems-from-conceptual-art-this/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [A work of art may be understood as a conductor from the artist's mind to the viewer's. But it may never reach the viewer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/a-work-of-art-may-be-understood-as-a-conductor-from-the-artist-s-mind/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [ \[The artist's aim is\] not to instruct the viewer, but to give him information... . The artist would follow his predetermined premise to its… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/the-artist-s-aim-is-not-to-instruct-the-viewer-but-to-give-him/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) [Explore all 57 Sol LeWitt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "I was not interested in irony; I wanted to emphasize the primacy of the idea in making art", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sol LeWitt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/i-was-not-interested-in-irony-i-wanted-to-emphasize-the-primacy-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/i-was-not-interested-in-irony-i-wanted-to-emphasize-the-primacy-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19e/sol-lewitt-11839_art_i-was-not-interested-in-irony-i-wanted-t_815233.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19e/sol-lewitt-11839_art_i-was-not-interested-in-irony-i-wanted-t_815233.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19e/sol-lewitt-11839_art_i-was-not-interested-in-irony-i-wanted-t_815233.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was not interested in irony; I wanted to emphasize the primacy of the idea in making art” — Sol LeWitt", "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": "Sol LeWitt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I was not interested in irony;...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/i-was-not-interested-in-irony-i-wanted-to-emphasize-the-primacy-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/i-was-not-interested-in-irony-i-wanted-to-emphasize-the-primacy-of/#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 } } ] } ```