For an artist, to be normal is a disaster

I began writing poetry when I was about 10. Bad poetry, but you start with bad poetry.

For an artist, to be normal is a disaster

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.

As a film-maker and a poet, I feel it's my duty to be an eye and an antenna to what's happening around me. I always felt a solidarity with those who are desperate and confused and misused and are seeking a way out of it.

The nature of the video camera really makes you focus on the present. Since I have always been a diarist filmmaker, not one who stages scenes with actors, it has always been about the present moment.

I brought Yoko Ono to New York and gave her her first job there. I was editing a magazine called Film Culture.