In the very end, civilizations perish because they listen to their politicians and not to their poets.

Since 1950 I have been keeping a film diary. I have been walking around with my Bolex and reacting to the immediate reality: situations, friends, New York, seasons of the year. On some days I shoot ten frames, on others ten seconds, still on others ten minutes. Or I shoot nothing. Walden contains material from the years 1964-1968 strung together in chronological order.

Some cameras are heavier and need to be on tripods. Others are small enough to hide in your pocket. There are places where you don't want to feel like you are disturbing anything, so I may use a camera like that.

An adventurer can always return home; an exile cannot. So I decided that my home would be culture.

In the very end, civilizations perish because they listen to their politicians and not to their poets.

In 1962, we created the Filmmakers' Co-Op because nobody wanted to distribute our films. If we had the Internet in those days, we wouldn't have needed the Co-Op.

Most of my videos consist of fragments, one or two minutes long. They are haikus or sketches. I have thousands.