Claes Oldenburg

The object is a symbol of our desires.

I am interested in the transformation of materials.

My art is a way of questioning reality.

I like to make things that are both playful and serious.

The scale of things is relative.

I want to make art that is timeless.

My work is a celebration of the human spirit.

I am interested in the power of the imagination.

Art should be a part of the public discourse.

I like to make things that are both simple and complex.

The hamburger is the most American of foods.

I am for art that is eaten.

The relation of art to life is of the essence of twentieth-century art.

My main theme is the transformation of everyday objects into monumental sculptures.

Art should be playful and absurd.

I want to make sculpture that is soft and yielding.

The ordinary object is transformed into something extraordinary.

Pop art is the inedible raised to the unspeakable.

I am for the art of 57th Street and Second Avenue.

Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in space.