Beneath the waves

David Cronenberg in the Guardian.

The exhibition presents a vision of “David Cronenberg”. Do you worry that the image that lives on after your death might not be who you are now?

It won’t be. You can see what happens to other artists when they die. It’s uncontrollable. There was a time when Shakespeare was considered extremely unimportant. His reputation has gone through many cycles, none of which affected him. All that affected him was what his reputation was when he was alive. It wouldn’t disturb me to think that my work would just sink beneath the waves without trace and that would be it. So what? It doesn’t bother me.

Are you afraid of dying?

Yes and no. Sometimes a suicide is just saying: “Oh, I’ve had enough.” I also think of it as a fantastic exit, you know? It’s an escape. But it’s very, very hard to imagine your non-existence, yet we’ve all experienced it in a sense because before we were born we didn’t exist. It depends on the time of day, whether I’m afraid or whether I embrace it.

[Via]