It was a small thing, but it was a thing, and things have a way of either dying or growing, and it wasn’t dying.

He seemed to be waiting for me to move forward. Weren't we all.

So the recordings were these immersive landscapes, and yet, unlike the performances that almost no one would see, I had a sense that these could live forever. I was just starting to get my head around the democratic aspect of art; I didn't want to make rarefied things that were either alienatingly obscure or elite and art-worldy, so a recording that anyone could buy was a great medium.

I made orange juice from concentrate and showed her the trick of squeezing the juice of one real orange into it. It removes the taste of being frozen. She marveled at this, and I laughed and said, Life is easy. What I meant was, Life is easy with you here, and when you leave, it will be hard again.

It was a tiny sound but it woke me up because it was a human sound.

There was nothing in this world that was not a con, suddenly I understood this. Nothing really mattered, and nothing could be lost.

My way into making movies - into making things is general - has been through performing.