“When the object on which I am working begins to have its own internal integrity and logic, it then begins to become interesting to me. At this point, paradoxically, I have less to do with it than when it was in a more formative stage — it begins to construct itself. This object starts to assume a “presence,” a place of its own in the world which is at first delicate and somewhat tentative. I try to help it along, to give it space to find itself beyond the incidental or the haphazard. Finally, if we are both lucky, it asserts itself, much like an ingenious child who does or says something it was not taught. Like any other individual, it has become unique. This moment, to me, contains the real, perhaps magical essence of art, the reason why people have been involved in art-making since the emergence of homo sapiens and perhaps before, and the reason why I am hopelessly and continuously intrigued and involved in such a ridiculous undertaking.”
— Keith Long