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In Horror Stories Or In Fairy Tales, The Fascination With The Morbid Is Also, At Least For Me, A Way To Prepare For The Unthinkable… That’s Why It’s Very Important For Me To Show The Artificiality Of It All, Because The Real Horrors Of The World Are Unmatchable, And They’re Too Profound. It’s Much Easier To Absorb – To Be Entertained By It, But Also To Let It Affect You Psychologically – If It’s Done In A Fake, Humorous, Artificial Way.

-Cindy Sherman

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In Horror Stories Or

Cindy Sherman

...

In Horror Stories Or In Fairy Tales, The Fascination With The Morbid Is Also, At Least For Me, A Way To Prepare For The Unthinkable… That’s Why It’s Very Important For Me To Show The Artificiality Of It All, Because The Real Horrors Of The World Are Unmatchable, And They’re Too Profound. It’s Much Easier To Absorb – To Be Entertained By It, But Also To Let It Affect You Psychologically – If It’s Done In A Fake, Humorous, Artificial Way.

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I Was Meticulously Copying Other Art And Then I Realized I Could Just Use A Camera And Put My Time Into An Idea Instead.

My Message For People To Not Take Anything For Granted, To Respect What They Might Not Understand.

One Reason I Was Interested In Photography Was To Get Away From The Preciousness Of The Art Object.

I Wonder How It Is That I’m Fooling So Many People, I’m Doing One Of The Most Stupid Things In The World…and People Seem To Be Falling For It.

Nowadays, With Digital Printing, It's So Easy To Make Everything Perfect, Which Is Not Always A Good Idea. Sometimes The Mistakes Are Really What Make A Piece.

I Feel I'm Anonymous In My Work. When I Look At The Pictures, I Never See Myself; They Aren't Self-portraits. Sometimes I Disappear.

I Think People Are More Apt To Believe Photographs, Especially If It’s Something Fantastic. They’re Willing To Be More Gullible. Sometimes They Want Fantasy. Even If They Know It’s Fake They Can Believe Anything. People Are Accustomed To Being Told What To Believe In.

I Didn't Want To Make 'high' Art, I Had No Interest In Using Paint, I Wanted To Find Something That Anyone Could Relate To Without Knowing About Contemporary Art. I Wasn't Thinking In Terms Of Precious Prints Or Archival Quality; I Didn't Want The Work To Seem Like A Commodity.

[my Work Is] Maybe About Me Maybe Not Wanting To Be Me And Wanting To Be All These Other Characters. Or At Least Try Them On.

I Am Always Surprised At All The Things People Read Into My Photos, But It Also Amuse Me. That May Be Because I Have Nothing Specific In Mind When I'm Working. My Intentions Are Neither Feminist Nor Political. I Try To Put Double Or Multiple Meanings Into My Photos, Which Might Give Rise To A Greater Variety Of Interpretations.

My Dad Was Such A Bigot. He Was A Horrible, Self-centred Person. He Was Really Racist And He'd Talk About The Jews And Blacks And Catholics Even.

My Ideas Are Not Developed Before I Actually Do The Pieces.

The Still Must Tease With The Promise Of A Story The Viewer Of It Itches To Be Told.

I Think I Always Resented The Fact That People Thought I Was Trying To Entertain Them With My Multifaceted, Chameleonlike Character Changes. Although I Liked Doing That, I Wasn't Out To Fool People And Say 'guess Which One Is Me.'

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Being Able To Make A Living Doing Something One Truly Loves To Do - Is My Definition Of Success.

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Everyone Thinks These Are Self-portraits But They Aren't Meant To Be. I Just Use Myself As A Model Because I Know I Can Push Myself To Extremes, Make Each Shot As Ugly Or Goofy Or Silly As Possible.

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I'd Never Even Thought About Compromise When I Worked In My Studio. The Major Distinction Is In The Priority Of Who I Ultimately Wanted To Please: Myself Or The Audience.

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Believing In One’s Own Art Becomes Harder And Harder When The Public Response Grows Fonder.

Early In My Career, A Critic Said That I Needed To "explain" The Irony In My Work, Suggesting That I Needed To Add Text Next To The Images To Help People Understand What I Was Trying To Say. At First I Was Dismayed That I Wasn't Making Work With A Clear Enough Message. That's When I Realized That That Was The Exact Opposite Of What I Wanted To Do - That I Wasn't Responsible For A Misinterpretation Of My Work, That There Should Be Some Ambiguity To It. They Either Got It, Or They Didn't.

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In Horror Stories Or In Fairy Tales, The Fascination With The Morbid Is Also, At Least For Me, A Way To Prepare For The Unthinkable… That’s Why It’s Very Important For Me To Show The Artificiality Of It All, Because The Real Horrors Of The World Are Unmatchable, And They’re Too Profound. It’s Much Easier To Absorb – To Be Entertained By It, But Also To Let It Affect You Psychologically – If It’s Done In A Fake, Humorous, Artificial Way.

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Dreamers Are Those Who Have Achieved In Love And Life, Because It Is A Dream That Got Them There.

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