I never work with music. I hate background music, always did. I only like music in the foreground, meaning, deliberately listen to it, actually.

You had to be aware that I saw that photography was a mere episode in the history of the optical projection and when the chemicals ended, meaning the picture was fixed by chemicals, we were in a new era.

I stay up nights and fiddle with my opera designs. It's a bit obsessive. That's why I can't do it all the time.

Who would have thought that the telephone would bring back drawing?

I'm very attracted to the great open spaces of the West.

I was 18 when I first visited London, I'm very provincial like that, but I must confess the moment I got to America I thought: This is the place. It was more open, with 24-hour cities and pubs and restaurants that didn't close.

The moment you can learn to deal with homosexuality in art, it's quite an exciting moment, just as in a sense when people 'come out' it's quite an exciting moment. It means they become aware of their desires, and can deal with them in a remarkably honest way.