What sort of attractions do you think lured our coreligionists out of the ghetto and into the mainstream of European culture? Was it the wit of Moliรจre, or the ingenious stage mechanisms of Pixรฉrรฉcourt? Or was it simply the opportunity to cast an eye, without shame, upon the living, unclad human form?
Ben KatchorThe click [of a light switch] is the modern triumphal clarion proceeding us through life, announcing our entry into every lightless room.
Ben KatchorI think a lot of these terms, nationalistic things, somebody is an American, or somebody is a Frenchman, or somebody is a Jew, I don't know, it doesn't mean anything to me. You really should start augmenting these words, saying what kind. If you want to say somebody is a Jew, what do you mean by that? Does he have blonde hair? I think a lot of these ancient nationalistic and ethnic terms have kind of lost their meaning, or their meaning is so broad, it's nothing. It's like he's connected to the ancient world. Everybody is.
Ben KatchorA picture story just doesn't run like a film. It doesn't have 24 frames per second. It doesn't deal with this illusion of movement.
Ben Katchor