Creating harmony amidst diversity is a fundamental issue of the twenty-first century. While celebrating the unique characteristics of different peoples and cultures, we have to create solidarity on the level of our common humanity, our common life. Without such solidarity, there will be no future for the human race. Diversity should not beget conflict in the world, but richness.
My fans - I hate the word fans...my supporters - it's an international following that isn't from being in London and existing on the "scene." It came from being on the Internet, from being a teenager communicating with different artists, showing who I am, who KESH is, as well as connecting with other people around the world doing similar things.
From what I see, people of color are being called on in a different way. We're being heard in a different way - louder. And I think it's such an exciting time. The power structure is being redefined, and we're redefining beauty with the stories that we're telling and the women we're showing on our covers.
In Heidelberg, in Hoffenheim, there's not much going on. I am so used to being around my London estate, so when I am here I am kind of lost in a different environment, a different area.
So Am I' is about loving yourself, being different, being an outcast and not fitting in the format that society wants to put us in - just celebrating what really makes you different.
There's something human that has to do with time and space and being who I am that is in progress and always will be in progress. And who I am, on different days, different moments, depends on different aspects of my past.
The sole and basic source of our strength is the solidarity of workers, peasants and the intelligentsia, the solidarity of the nation, the solidarity of people who seek to live in dignity, truth, and in harmony with their conscience.
I really lucked out with that song ["As Cool As I Am"]. Men were becoming much more comfortable with all the different facets and parts of their identity, including their gentler, funnier, sillier, nurturing parts. They started showing up. There was so much exploration of gender at that time. Women were showing up with the range of ways of being female in the world and men were showing up with the range of being male in the world.
Man is only a moral being because he lives in society, since morality consists in solidarity with the group, and varies according to that solidarity. Cause all social life to vanish, and moral life would vanish at the same time, having no object to cling to.
I usually have several things on the go. Whether it is my own drawings for the next work that I am working on while a sculpture is being fabricated or several works at different points in production.
Janey accuses me of chasing jailbait. She bursts into angry tears, asking if it's because she's getting older. It's true. She's aging more noticeably every day — while I am standing still. I prefer the stillness here. I am tired of Earth. These people. I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives.
I am quite an admirer of Fidel [Castro]. For me, Fidel is the first and the best man in solidarity with the peoples of the world. Fidel shares not just what he does not need, but every little thing he has. That is called solidarity.
I prefer being around young people. I don't like situations from the past, definitely no nostalgia. I prefer to think of doing everything new with a different generation that has a different mentality.
One thing that makes France different from other countries is the tradition of social solidarity. People from all backgrounds and political positions are willing to contribute for services and protection of society as a whole - but on the condition that money is being spent effectively and that everyone is paying their part.
I agree that I am different from others. I am not trying to fit in someone else's shoes. I am being honest to myself.
The key to me is being different not for the sake of being different, but being the most authentic version of what you do. And definitely it takes a willingness to be different, because there was resistance for me early on, and I feel like that's usually the case when there's a certain paradigm or trend happening, and you step outside of that.