"Exclusive enthusiasts of the new do not consider the quality of being able to be repeated, re-heard, rethought, reviewed - the Re value - of works.
This is what makes a work functional - becomes form - once it has crossed the threshold of raw astonishments.
To preserve wonder in habituation. This is a rare value in works. A woman whose repeated possession increases the lover's desire is an infinite value."
"(Great artists) did not strive to be noticed, but to be looked at for a long time - which is quite different. Astonishment lasts a short while; shocking is not a long-term goal. But to be recalled by memory, to establish a great desire to be seen again, that is to aim not at the moment of passing, but at the very depth of one's being. A work that calls people back to it is more powerful than one that merely provokes them. This is true in everything: as for myself, I classify books according to the need they have inspired in me to reread them, more or less."
Paul Valéry
VIDEO: 'Forever' ('Ewig'), Song of the Earth
Ballerina: Darcey Bussell
Music: Gustav Mahler
Choreography: Kenneth MacMillan