---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I make work that tries to sort of connect…"
description: "\"I make work that tries to sort of connect with something really, really familiar. I don't try to make work that's original. I try to make work that's q..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c68/tony-tasset-81859_familiar_i-make-work-that-tries-to-sort-of-connec_1618412.jpg"
---

#  I make work that tries to sort of connect with something…

![“I make work that tries to sort of connect with something really, really familiar. I don't try to make work that's original. I try to make work that's quintessential. That's what I mean about the familiar. It operates with stuff that people already know or information that they already have and I…” quote by Tony Tasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c68/tony-tasset-81859_familiar_i-make-work-that-tries-to-sort-of-connec_1618412.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c68/tony-tasset-81859_familiar_i-make-work-that-tries-to-sort-of-connec_1618412.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c68/tony-tasset-81859_familiar_i-make-work-that-tries-to-sort-of-connec_1618412.jpg)

> “I make work that tries to sort of connect with something really, really familiar. I don't try to make work that's original. I try to make work that's quintessential. That's what I mean about the familiar. It operates with stuff that people already know or information that they already have and I try to just use that. Quintessential means like the perfect minimalist sculptor.”

[Tony Tasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-tasset/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Creating works that echo familiar concepts makes art feel timeless and accessible.

**In simple terms:** Use familiar ideas to craft essential art.

Key Takeaway

Embrace the familiar, seek essence.

Themes

art familiarity essence

Mood

contemplative creative

Type

inspirational philosophical

When to use this quote

- museum installations
- public murals
- educational workshops

Key Concepts

minimalism cultural memory

Questions to Reflect On

- What familiar element can you reinterpret?
- How does familiarity affect audience connection?

A Different Perspective

Risk of being seen as unoriginal.

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[Familiar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/familiar/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Perfect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfect/) [Quintessential](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quintessential/) [Quintessential Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quintessential-mean-236106/) [Quintessential Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quintessential-means-236105/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Use Quintessential](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use-quintessential-236108/) [Work Quintessential](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-quintessential-236107/)

## Related quotes

> [ The heart \[of my work\], the quintessential, remains the questioning of photographic truth. Be careful, be critical, doubt, and filter the information you receive. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-fontcuberta/the-heart-of-my-work-the-quintessential-remains-the-questioning-of/)

[Joan Fontcuberta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-fontcuberta/)

> [Acting serves as the quintessential social lubricant and a device for protecting our interests and gaining advantage in every aspect of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlon-brando/acting-serves-as-the-quintessential-social-lubricant-and-a-device-for/)

[Marlon Brando](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlon-brando/)

> [I believe that the quintessential task of every painter in any time has been to concentrate on the essential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/i-believe-that-the-quintessential-task-of-every-painter-in-any-time/)

[Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/)

> [As a little girl, I thought I'd like to get married on the beach. But I'm not the quintessential girl who had these sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-moore/as-a-little-girl-i-thought-i-d-like-to-get-married-on-the-beach-but-i/)

[Mandy Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-moore/)

> [The quintessential revolution is that of the spirit, born of an intellectual conviction of the need for change in those mental attitudes and values…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aung-san-suu-kyi/the-quintessential-revolution-is-that-of-the-spirit-born-of-an/)

[Aung San Suu Kyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aung-san-suu-kyi/)

> [ \[T\]he Super Bowl, the quintessential American creation. A dizzying mélange of brilliant entrepreneurship in an atmosphere of intense competition. It is the perfect show… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-klein/t-he-super-bowl-the-quintessential-american-creation-a-dizzying-m/)

[Robert Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-klein/)

> [New York has arguably become the quintessential 1 percent city, a city that has been so given over to the rich that you now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graydon-carter/new-york-has-arguably-become-the-quintessential-1-percent-city-a-city/)

[Graydon Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graydon-carter/)

> [Any page by Paul Goodman will give you not only originality and brilliance but wisdom, that is, something to think about. He is our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hayden-carruth/any-page-by-paul-goodman-will-give-you-not-only-originality-and/)

[Hayden Carruth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hayden-carruth/)

> [War is not the quintessential emergency in which man has to prove himself, as my generation learned at its school desks in the days…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-heinemann/war-is-not-the-quintessential-emergency-in-which-man-has-to-prove/)

[Gustav Heinemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-heinemann/)

> [I don't like quintessential certitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/i-don-t-like-quintessential-certitude/)

[Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/)

> [I think Robert Plant is the quintessential frontman - just the way he moves. His voice is superhuman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-momsen/i-think-robert-plant-is-the-quintessential-frontman-just-the-way-he/)

[Taylor Momsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-momsen/)

> [Remember that for every technique you think you can fall back on, there is a counter for it, or there are times when it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaaki-hatsumi/remember-that-for-every-technique-you-think-you-can-fall-back-on/)

[Masaaki Hatsumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaaki-hatsumi/)

> [Playing normal is hard; especially playing normal that's not you. The biggest challenge in playing Alicia is trying to make a teenage girl seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alycia-debnam-carey-2/playing-normal-is-hard-especially-playing-normal-that-s-not-you-the/)

[Alycia Debnam Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alycia-debnam-carey-2/)

> [When I look at pictures when I was younger, I do the quintessential cringe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-roy/when-i-look-at-pictures-when-i-was-younger-i-do-the-quintessential/)

[Rachel Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-roy/)

> [If it comes to a question of law, the charges they brought against me - the Espionage Act - is called the quintessential political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/if-it-comes-to-a-question-of-law-the-charges-they-brought-against-me/)

[Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/)

## More by Tony Tasset

> [I've been an artist forever. I started when I was in the third grade. I drew drawings of monsters and I sold them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-tasset/i-ve-been-an-artist-forever-i-started-when-i-was-in-the-third-grade-i/)

[Tony Tasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-tasset/)

> [I try to teach a modernist and postmodernist position. On one hand, if you're a painter, you need to know the history of painting.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-tasset/i-try-to-teach-a-modernist-and-postmodernist-position-on-one-hand-if/)

[Tony Tasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-tasset/)

[Explore all 3 Tony Tasset quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-tasset/)

## More Familiar quotes

> [ There was another reason \[she\] took her books whenever they went away. They were her home when she was somewhere strange. They were familiar… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/there-was-another-reason-she-took-her-books-whenever-they-went-away/)

[Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/)

> [It's a very familiar type of place where people either go to their house on the lake or they get together in different places.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-carell/it-s-a-very-familiar-type-of-place-where-people-either-go-to-their/)

[Steve Carell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-carell/)

> [Photography's potential as a great image-maker and communicator is really no different from the same potential in the best poetry where familiar, everyday words,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-caponigro/photography-s-potential-as-a-great-image-maker-and-communicator-is/)

[Paul Caponigro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-caponigro/)

> [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/)

[Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/)

> [This kind of horror has become all too familiar to us. As parents, Cindy and I offer our prayers to the memory of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/this-kind-of-horror-has-become-all-too-familiar-to-us-as-parents/)

[John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/)

> [Any creative process is about being in a territory which isn't secure, isn't necessarily familiar, and isn't convenient in any sort of way. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanne-bier/any-creative-process-is-about-being-in-a-territory-which-isn-t-secure/)

[Susanne Bier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanne-bier/)

> [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&amp;P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/)

[Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/)

> [I don't look to play people that are familiar. I look to play people that are different, challenge, unknown, foreign, and therefore scary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-jessica-parker/i-don-t-look-to-play-people-that-are-familiar-i-look-to-play-people/)

[Sarah Jessica Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-jessica-parker/)

> [My pet peeve is hearing a knock on the bathroom door followed by the familiar words, 'What are you doing in there?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-scalf-linamen/my-pet-peeve-is-hearing-a-knock-on-the-bathroom-door-followed-by-the/)

[Karen Scalf Linamen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-scalf-linamen/)

> [The barman sidled toward them out of a back room. He was a grump-looking old man with a great deal of a long gray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-barman-sidled-toward-them-out-of-a-back-room-he-was-a-grump/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Television is a thing that people get very familiar with. They want to hear your voice in their head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damon-wayans-jr/television-is-a-thing-that-people-get-very-familiar-with-they-want-to/)

[Damon Wayans, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damon-wayans-jr/)

> [It's truly gratifying to see my films reach beyond a familiar public, to get a chance to move new audiences. It's nuts. It's extraordinary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-audiard/it-s-truly-gratifying-to-see-my-films-reach-beyond-a-familiar-public/)

[Jacques Audiard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-audiard/)

> [When I was in high school, I was a bad singer. I mean, all my early acting was musical theater, and my first ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-claflin/when-i-was-in-high-school-i-was-a-bad-singer-i-mean-all-my-early/)

[Sam Claflin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-claflin/)

> [Fella’s a genius. Best ever by a distance in my life time. Never really saw Pele… Souness, Gullit, Venables and now Rooney agree Messi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-lineker/fella-s-a-genius-best-ever-by-a-distance-in-my-life-time-never-really/)

[Gary Lineker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-lineker/)

> [Sometimes all it takes is a tiny shift of perspective to see something familiar in a totally new light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/sometimes-all-it-takes-is-a-tiny-shift-of-perspective-to-see/)

[Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/)

[Browse all 1,916 Familiar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/familiar/)

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