I have always had a special friendship in my head with Robert Rauschenberg, ever since I read Calvin Tompkins' book Off the Wall. Something about his willingness to take chances & commit to his own vision--even if that vision goes against everything anyone has ever seen. For instance, (this is from my memory so it may not be totally accurate) during a performance at the Judson Memorial Church he attached flashlights to the backs of turtles & let them loose on a dark stage. Or once (even though he was afraid of heights) he descended down a rope putting on clothing tied to the rope, and ended up in a barrel of water at the bottom. All the while a cow was led on stage. How delightful! He was serious too, but always playful. I am sadder than I even expected that he is no longer here.
from the Associated Press:
"I don't ever want to go," he told Harper's when asked about dying. "I don't have a sense of great reality about the next world; my feet are too ugly to wear those golden slippers. But I'm working on my fear of it. And my fear is that something interesting will happen, and I'll miss it."
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