"Whenever I get the sort of fancy pants idea that I'm doing anything other than pure expression things start to go wrong. When I get too premeditated, things start to go wrong. I just shut that part of my brain off"
About this Quote
The subtext is less anti-thinking than anti-posturing. Yilmaz isn't praising randomness; he's describing a workflow where over-intention becomes a kind of self-surveillance. Premeditation is framed not as professionalism but as interference, the mental equivalent of grabbing the steering wheel in a skid. "I just shut that part of my brain off" is a quiet admission that the enemy isn't an external critic, it's the internal manager: the part that wants coherence, marketability, a rationale you can defend in an interview.
Contextually, this reads like an artist navigating the pressure to narrativize everything. Contemporary culture constantly demands process content, intent statements, and a clean thesis for why a piece exists. Yilmaz pushes back with a credo that protects spontaneity as a form of honesty. The line suggests he trusts the body and the subconscious to find what the conscious mind would only try to manufacture: something that feels alive rather than explained.
Quote Details
| Topic | Art |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Yilmaz, Lev. (n.d.). Whenever I get the sort of fancy pants idea that I'm doing anything other than pure expression things start to go wrong. When I get too premeditated, things start to go wrong. I just shut that part of my brain off. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/whenever-i-get-the-sort-of-fancy-pants-idea-that-92938/
Chicago Style
Yilmaz, Lev. "Whenever I get the sort of fancy pants idea that I'm doing anything other than pure expression things start to go wrong. When I get too premeditated, things start to go wrong. I just shut that part of my brain off." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/whenever-i-get-the-sort-of-fancy-pants-idea-that-92938/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Whenever I get the sort of fancy pants idea that I'm doing anything other than pure expression things start to go wrong. When I get too premeditated, things start to go wrong. I just shut that part of my brain off." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/whenever-i-get-the-sort-of-fancy-pants-idea-that-92938/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.



