What do you think should be the role of the artist in society? Should art disgust people, should it be a critical mirror, an escape, entertainment…?
I think art should be all those things. I think in a world where everything human is denigrated, art becomes more crucial and more important for people making it through their life. I think that art should be your muse, what inspires you; it can help guide you.How would your visual art guide people? What would it guide them to do?
To make good choices in their daily life. I think that the best art is inspirational.[…]
Oswald Spengler, the quasi-fascist German philosopher of history wrote in The Decline of the West that ‘optimism is cowardice.’ Do you agree?
I don’t think that optimism is cowardice. In some ways, I think that Devo was optimistic. We talked about De-evolution, but we always encouraged people to be anti-stupidity and to try and make a difference. We were never praising de-evolution. We were musical reporters, saying, ‘Wait a minute. Do you see what’s going on? Do you see what you are a part of?’