He has interviewed himself, photographed himself, sculpted himself, and decorated himself and, in doing so, he has always seemed to be a work in progress. Unrepentant Ego. Samaras was born in Greece in and emigrated to the United States with his family when he was He won a scholarship to study art at Rutgers University, enrolling in , at a time when the Rutgers art department was a hotbed of innovation, with a faculty that included Alan Kaprow, who organized the first Happenings, and Geoffrey Hendricks, who, along with Kaprow, George Segal, Roy Lichtenstein, and students like Robert Whitman, was instrumental in the Fluxus movement.
His interest in performance also led him to study acting with Stella Adler. Over the years, Samaras has made drawings, paintings, sculptures, installations, photographs, furniture, and jewelry. He has been extraordinarily innovative in media, learning to manipulate Polaroids before the dyes set, or employing materials such as razor blades, chicken wire, beads, and gold.
Since this interview, it has been announced that Samaras will represent Greece in the Venice Biennale. Are you Mr. Okay, let the boys know what I did. But at this point, do you see fame as a recognition of quality, or as.
Well, you could be an axe murderer and also be famous. What does fame mean right now? I mean, you are famous. LS: I think even at a young age I became aware that two kinds of fame were available: One is the kind you get from building this great church; the other is the kind you get from burning it down. LS: There is this evil side of fame, where you can destroy something and become famous, like Attila the Hun. Okay, he was a great warrior, but he destroyed God knows how much.
So you want the good side of fame. But whether people consider you difficult or snooty or whatever is less important than not having done real damage. Oh, there he goes doing something strange. The creature has that adjective attached to him or her.
