'When you are young you don't really know who you are, or what will become of you. But I did want to find these things out, very badly. One way to do this is to start by fantasising different versions of YOU. One of the Me's I invented was a crusty old sea captain called SEA DOG. I knew, for example, that I wanted to see the world because I wanted find out how big I wasn't. Finding out that I was less important in the grand scheme of things than I felt at home, would help me, I thought, not take my own sadness so seriously that it devoured me. I wanted to be far away from the world I was in, and fell asleep one night hoping this would happen. I dreamt of Richard the sea dog captain, remembering my voyages, and especially the one to the wild waters of the Philippines. I had had, remembering them, great adventures there, and managed to return safely.
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I remembered thinking how grand my life was, and understood that I had become who I am thanks to such experiences. But, as it turns out, I did not become a captain, and never went to the Philippines on a ship. And, even though some people probably think me crusty, I am not a dog either. But what?' (Richard Meitner, artist, on 'Sea Dog')
