Jeff Koons puts into words what he puts so eloquently into his artworks: passion for life

The most important thing about life is life itself and the continuation of life, and I start all my work based on that foundation. When I was younger my family was very supportive. My grandfather’s brothers were all very successful merchants in our area. My grandfather was city treasurer in New York and his brothers all had stores so I was always brought up to be self-reliant. As a I child, I liked to go from door to door selling things – gift-wrapping paper, candy, any type of product. I enjoyed the communication that occurred because I had my needs and the person who opened the door had theirs so there was a sense of acceptance between us.

I learnt aesthetics from my dad. He was an interior decorator and he taught me that a controlled environment could really manipulate the way people felt. If you go into an environment that is red and black you feel one way, or if you go into an environment that is French provincial you feel another way. Textures and colours would all affect your feelings. My father would think of everything. When decorating our Christmas tree he would think of every ball and where it should go. So when I am planting Puppy or one of these sculptures it is very much the same thought as my father would put in when designing the Christmas tree. But neither my father nor I believe in fetishism. To me, fetishism by definition is a dog chasing its tail. It is something where you get less energy out of it than that you put in. Craft for craft’s sake is not very interesting. What I learnt over the years is that I really don’t care about giving attention to objects because they are just metaphors for people. What I really enjoy is giving attention to the objects as these externalised things that stand as a metaphor because what I care about most is the viewer.

I was very spoilt as a child and got all the toys I wanted, except for one toy that I really wanted called something like Gargoo. It was a big green toy and it had a leopard skin kind of like Tarzan’s wrapped around his waist. The toy looks very similar to the Hulk figures I make now. When I was five years old we moved out to the suburbs and I spent a lot of time on my own playing underneath trees. I felt different to the other kids, who seemed wilder, and I realised then that I wanted more of life and that I wanted to find some vehicle to do so.
My inspiration comes from a lot of the activities my children and I do together, and I try to be accessible and to open myself up to that. I started making art because it gave me a sense of self. I have one older sister and I always felt that she could do everything better than me. She was bigger and stronger, but when I started to draw and sketch my parents would say, “That’s good, Jeff” and I felt very satisfied because I had finally found something I was good at – better at than my sister. Art has continued as a vehicle of giving me a sense of self but I never knew how vast art could be and how art functions as a hub, bringing all disciplines together.

I believe a good artist has to start off with a degree of insecurity because you have to want something, you have to want to expand. I always wanted to “become”. The type of philosophy I enjoyed was Nietzsche and Kierkegaard. I enjoyed the thought of becoming and expanding the self but I also think that, as a child, I got a sense of morality and community from my parents. So I have these two elements inside. I have my own needs, my own interests and wanting the intensity to be strongest but, at the same time, I feel a responsibility within my group – whether it’s my family structure or community – to be relied upon.

My sculptures are often mirrored so the viewer is reflected in them not as narcissist but more as an abstraction. It makes reference to the viewer, giving him the importance. It is the viewer who makes my sculptures actual works of art. If you move, it moves and thereby confirms you as the viewer. Art is in the viewer and not the object. Really great art almost imitates life. It tries to be its parable, as if something could be made strong enough to overcome the barrier and compete against real life. Of course, this is impossible. When you are viewing a piece of art that is very visceral and you feel your chemicals flowing, a physical and an intellectual reaction take place. It’s almost as if the work is pushing up against life’s force because it’s making your experience of life stronger. And that is what art is all about.

- Jeff Koons is exhibiting his Popeye Series at the Serpentine Gallery, 2 July – 13 September 2009

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