“I will not become what I mean to you.”
-Barbara Kruger
I read this quote in the book Blueprints for Better Girls (which was painful to read and not about bettering anyone). The quote is interesting. I suspect that one could ruminate for a long time on all the permutations it triggers. I think it will mean something new to you almost every time you consider it.
Kruger is an artist who creates these slogans as a kind of anti-establishment declaration, meant to challenge the viewer. You can read more about her in this article from Mother Jones magazine.
My first connection to this quote was to recall a youthful romance. It could have been spoken by the young man. In reality, he did not become what he meant to me. And yet he did, because I fashioned him in the image I desired, and so he remained in memory, inviolate.
My children could say this to me. I could say it to them.
In some ways, it’s a fatalistic thought. We are bound to disappoint. In other ways, it’s a liberating thought. We are imperfect, and accepting that, we are free to be whoever we grow to be.
What does it mean to you?
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Shawn L. Bird 
becoming what I mean February 25, 2013
Tags: Barbara Kruger, becoming, being, identity, love
-Barbara Kruger
I read this quote in the book Blueprints for Better Girls (which was painful to read and not about bettering anyone). The quote is interesting. I suspect that one could ruminate for a long time on all the permutations it triggers. I think it will mean something new to you almost every time you consider it.
Kruger is an artist who creates these slogans as a kind of anti-establishment declaration, meant to challenge the viewer. You can read more about her in this article from Mother Jones magazine.
My first connection to this quote was to recall a youthful romance. It could have been spoken by the young man. In reality, he did not become what he meant to me. And yet he did, because I fashioned him in the image I desired, and so he remained in memory, inviolate.
My children could say this to me. I could say it to them.
In some ways, it’s a fatalistic thought. We are bound to disappoint. In other ways, it’s a liberating thought. We are imperfect, and accepting that, we are free to be whoever we grow to be.
What does it mean to you?
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