Dream

“I guess I was thinking of the most visceral phrasing I could imagine. Carolee was always so good at speaking about the body in visceral terms, like putting it into literal words.” – SMW paraphrased by MH.

“Sands’ initials (still fooling around with the name thing).” – MH.

“I was wanting to get seduced by the people working at the immigration office. Wanting to get seduced by anyone on the street. Wondering if I was seductive, seductive enough.” – SMW paraphrased by MH.

“I’m quite gay, aren’t I? (not ‘queer’ — that almost too cool). The work, to me, looks quite gay 1990s — a kind of ‘colourful abjection’. A quite nice combination I think. I used to call myself a professional existentialist. I thought it was quite logical, and didn’t understand why I wasn’t seeing it around more often.” – SMW paraphrased by MH.

“I even made a few sex tapes. Robin helped me set up the camera. I was a top. You see it from behind; he’s on a couch in front of me (slightly anonymous). It’s quite aesthetic.” – SMW paraphrased by MH.

“The phrase ‘it’s not what you think’ repeats often in my work.” – SMW.

SMW, MH & AC inventorying session – 01.10.20. “Referencing is there for a reason.” – AC. “You need to give credit where credit is due.” – SMW.

“This is a weird one because it’s about selling a work to the Stedelijk — ‘I’m Proud of Myself’, a piece of gay portraiture (such a strange phrase — what is gay portraiture?)” – SMW paraphrased by MH.

“There is a very special video. 1 1/2 hours of me dancing to music in front of a mirror in my first independent flat/room in Amsterdam in 1998. This could also be nice to consider, it’s probably the best video I ever made so I’m keeping it ‘precious’ and not putting it online…” – SMW.

“The reason I like that video… I cry in it (if you look closely there’s a tear rolling down my cheek), and the only time there’s a video of me painting. You can literally see my hand moving with a tiny brush. Like the wetness of the paint.” – SMW.

“Was there an Abstract Expressionist (Jasper Johns?) that used ‘no’ in his titles? As many of the are, this is so simple… maybe worth destroying? NO!” – MH.