--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I remain detached and distant, but it is…" description: "\"I remain detached and distant, but it is under my eyes and my orders that the work of art must create itself. Then, when the creation starts, I stand t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfd/yves-klein-18098_art_i-remain-detached-and-distant-but-it-is_384636.png" --- # I remain detached and distant, but it is under my eyes and… ![“I remain detached and distant, but it is under my eyes and my orders that the work of art must create itself. Then, when the creation starts, I stand there, present at the ceremony, immaculate, calm, relaxed... ready to welcome the work of art that is coming into existence in the tangible world.” quote by Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfd/yves-klein-18098_art_i-remain-detached-and-distant-but-it-is_384636.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfd/yves-klein-18098_art_i-remain-detached-and-distant-but-it-is_384636.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfd/yves-klein-18098_art_i-remain-detached-and-distant-but-it-is_384636.png) > “I remain detached and distant, but it is under my eyes and my orders that the work of art must create itself. Then, when the creation starts, I stand there, present at the ceremony, immaculate, calm, relaxed... ready to welcome the work of art that is coming into existence in the tangible world.” [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes the artist’s role as a calm observer, allowing art to emerge spontaneously **In simple terms:** Artist as witness, not creator, welcoming the work into reality Key Takeaway Adopt a receptive, present mindset in creative processes Themes creativity presence detachment Mood contemplative neutral Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - studio practice - art installations - creative collaboration Key Concepts process philosophy mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How can one stay present without losing agency? - When does detachment become disengagement? A Different Perspective Risk of passivity hindering proactive creation ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Coming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-coming-3481273/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Calm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calm/) [Ceremony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ceremony/) [Coming Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coming-existence-882999/) [Create Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/create-creation-1672177/) [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Detached](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detached/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Existence Tangible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence-tangible-3481272/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Immaculate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immaculate/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Present Ceremony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-ceremony-3481271/) [Ready](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ready/) [Relaxed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relaxed/) [Tangible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tangible/) [Welcome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/welcome/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Joy is the zest that you get out of using your talents, your understanding, the totality of your being, for great aims...That's the kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/joy-is-the-zest-that-you-get-out-of-using-your-talents-your/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) > [That is, when the mind ceases to create, then there is creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/that-is-when-the-mind-ceases-to-create-then-there-is-creation/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [To live is to express, and to express you have to create. Creation is never merely repetition. To live is to express oneself freely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/to-live-is-to-express-and-to-express-you-have-to-create-creation-is/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [In '68 I was 13 years old, so I was a child, but I felt a lot of excitement in listening to things, looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludovico-einaudi/in-68-i-was-13-years-old-so-i-was-a-child-but-i-felt-a-lot-of/) [Ludovico Einaudi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludovico-einaudi/) > [Art is coming face to face with yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/art-is-coming-face-to-face-with-yourself/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [I think of art as coming from daily life, daily experience. I think it's very important not to have it become work for some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-think-of-art-as-coming-from-daily-life-daily-experience-i-think-it/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [As I am well versed in the art of free-style wrestling, I am keen to pass on this art to the coming generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-great-khali/as-i-am-well-versed-in-the-art-of-free-style-wrestling-i-am-keen-to/) [The Great Khali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-great-khali/) > [Even while a thing is in the act of coming into existence, some part of it has already ceased to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/even-while-a-thing-is-in-the-act-of-coming-into-existence-some-part/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Reflect often upon the rapidity with which all existing things, or things coming into existence, sweep past us and are carried away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/reflect-often-upon-the-rapidity-with-which-all-existing-things-or/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [It is unlikely that many people will take to heart the conclusion that coming into existence is always a harm. It is even less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-benatar/it-is-unlikely-that-many-people-will-take-to-heart-the-conclusion/) [David Benatar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-benatar/) > [“Some things are hurrying into existence and others are hurrying out of it and of that which is coming into existence, part is already…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/some-things-are-hurrying-into-existence-and-others-are-hurrying-out/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [The chances of each of us coming into existence are infinitesimally small, and even though we shall all die some day, we should count…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-chances-of-each-of-us-coming-into-existence-are-infinitesimally/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Coming into existence is always bad for those who come into existence. In other words, although we may not be able to say of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-benatar/coming-into-existence-is-always-bad-for-those-who-come-into-existence/) [David Benatar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-benatar/) > [On my view there is no net benefit to coming into existence and thus coming into existence is never worth its costs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-benatar/on-my-view-there-is-no-net-benefit-to-coming-into-existence-and-thus/) [David Benatar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-benatar/) > [When I see someone with an immaculate sketchbook, I don't trust that person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kody-chamberlain/when-i-see-someone-with-an-immaculate-sketchbook-i-don-t-trust-that/) [Kody Chamberlain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kody-chamberlain/) ## More by Yves Klein > [“I was introduced to the void by the rebuffed nothingness. Reddedilmiş hiçlik tarafından boşlukla tanıştırıldım.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/i-was-introduced-to-the-void-by-the-rebuffed-nothingness-reddedilmi/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [At first there is nothing, then there is a profound nothingness, after that a blue profundity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/at-first-there-is-nothing-then-there-is-a-profound-nothingness-after/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [I want to take as the canvas for my next picture the entire surface of France.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/i-want-to-take-as-the-canvas-for-my-next-picture-the-entire-surface/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [The essential of painting is that 'something', that 'ethereal glue,' that 'intermediary product' which the artist exudes with all his creative being and which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/the-essential-of-painting-is-that-something-that-ethereal-glue-that/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [Blue has no dimensions, it is beyond dimensions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/blue-has-no-dimensions-it-is-beyond-dimensions/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [Hours of preparation for something that is excecuted, with extreme precision, in a few minutes. Just as with a judo throw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/hours-of-preparation-for-something-that-is-excecuted-with-extreme/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [“At present, I am particularly excited by "bad taste." I have the deep feeling that there exists in the very essence of bad taste…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/at-present-i-am-particularly-excited-by-bad-taste-i-have-the-deep/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [It was then that I remembered the colour blue, the blue of the sky in nice that was at the origin of my career…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/it-was-then-that-i-remembered-the-colour-blue-the-blue-of-the-sky-in/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [To feel the soul without explaining it, without vocabulary, and to represent this sensation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/to-feel-the-soul-without-explaining-it-without-vocabulary-and-to/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [Color is sensitivity in material form, substance in its purest form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/color-is-sensitivity-in-material-form-substance-in-its-purest-form/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [I have written my name on the far side of the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/i-have-written-my-name-on-the-far-side-of-the-sky/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [I did not like the nothing, and it is thus that I met the empty, the deep empty, the depth of the blue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/i-did-not-like-the-nothing-and-it-is-thus-that-i-met-the-empty-the/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [“...people should be able to say of me: He has lived, therefore he lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/people-should-be-able-to-say-of-me-he-has-lived-therefore-he-lives/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [Judo has helped me to understand that pictorial space is above all the product of spiritual exercises. Judo is, in fact, the discovery by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/judo-has-helped-me-to-understand-that-pictorial-space-is-above-all/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [The immaterial told me that I was indeed an occidental, a right-thinking Christian who believes in the 'Resurrection of the flesh'. A whole phenomenology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/the-immaterial-told-me-that-i-was-indeed-an-occidental-a-right/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) [Explore all 35 Yves Klein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) ## 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 remain detached and distant, but it is under my eyes and my orders that the work of art must create itself. 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