two voices from the art of assemblage...

"it now seems to me that even striving for expression in a work of art is harmful to art. art is an archprinciple, as sublime as the godhead, as inexplicable as life, undefinable and without purpose. the work of art is created by an artistic evaluation of its elements. i know only how i do it; i know only my material, from which i derive, to what end i know not."
kurt schwitters, 1921

"painting relates to both art and life. neither can be made.(i try and act in that gap between the two.) i am trying to check my habits of seeing, to counter them for the sake of greater freshness. i am trying to be unfamiliar with what i'm doing. if you do not change your mind about something when you confront a picture you have not seen before, you are either a stubborn fool or the painting is not very good."
robert rauchenberg, 1961

two quotes from the 1961 MOMA catalog the art of assemblage.