Kanye West credits a lamp designed by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier as his muse when he was creating the 2013 album Yeezus, saying "this one Corbusier lamp was like, my greatest inspiration." Like most things Kanye West says, this was both intriguing and somewhat bewildering. During a talk that Kanye gave at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago on Tuesday, he brought up the lamp again, possibly answering some of the questions people may have had about it,while simultaneously raising a few more. For instance, the lamp cost $110,000, give or take. Also, it "was made of rocks and cement," which means it must be this lamp, and Kanye may have overpaid slightly, although that, according to him, was sort of the point. (It also turns out that some people on a Kanye West message board already figured this out, of course.)
The entire quote, via Hyperallergic:
It was dumb expensive; it was like $110,000. And it was very inspiring to me … not just because it was expensive, but more for the fact that it was free when it was first made. And it costs a lot because it's a statement now of class for these french gallerists, to charge rich people more. Which I thought was really interesting as the world becomes less racist that there's still a really big class war. There's a real separation of the classes and the masses. And Corbusier gave the people higher ceilings, literally and metaphorically. And I remember at that time I was going through leaving Nike and going to Adidas. And I was also dealing with trying to get a deal with a luxury house because I wanted to paint. But I wanted to paint with musical art — sculptures equal clothing. Clothing is a form of musical art. And I would look at that lamp that was made of rocks and cement, but the shape was so beautiful, and it wasn't even made of marble … When I look at that Corbusier lamp and think, 'he made this and he put this lamp in zoos so everyone could have it.' It was about everyone having the opportunity to have beauty, to be inspired.
· Choice Quotes from Kanye's Address at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago [Hyperallergic]
· Behind Kanye's Mask [NYT]
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