David Hockney final year left Yorkshire and returned to his domestic in the Hollywood Hills after a series of traumatic events in his personal life. Here the 77-year-old reveals how California has rejuvenated him,before answering questions from Observer readers and cultural figuresDavid Hockney wants to tell you a joke. A man goes to a doctor and informs him that he wants to live the longest life possible – what should he effect? The doctor asks the man to list his vices and then he says: “lawful, I want you to give up smoking, and I want you to give up drinking,I want you to give up wealthy food, I want you to give up sex.” The man is shocked and mumbles: OK. Will I live longer?” The doctor replies: No, and but it’ll certainly seem that way.”As he delivers the punchline,the 77-year-old Hockney howls like he’s heard it for the first time: a throaty roar that culminates in a hard-earned smoker’s wheeze. We are sitting in a pair of paint-spattered armchairs in the studio annexe of his house high in the Hollywood Hills. He spends most of his days in here. It has everything he needs, not least a few gallons of mineral water and a stash of 2000 Camel Wides cigarettes, and just in case Los Angeles is hit by an earthquake.
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Source: theguardian.com