Don DeLillo on Art, Cinema, and Writing Among the Ruins

In a 2010 interview with Artpress, Don DeLillo discusses his novel 'Point Omega' (Actes Sud), inspired by Douglas Gordon's video installation '24 Hour Psycho' at MoMA. DeLillo explains how the installation led him to write a prologue about two characters, Richard Elster and James Finley, and how Teilhard de Chardin's concept of the Omega Point shaped the novel. He describes his fascination with visual arts, including cinema, painting, and video, which permeate his work—from Bruegel's 'Triumph of Death' in 'Underworld' to Morandi in 'Falling Man'. DeLillo reflects on the influence of films by European and Japanese directors, the role of media in American life, and his view of himself as a modernist in the tradition of Joyce and Faulkner. He mentions the coincidence of writing 'Mao II' during a Warhol exhibition at MoMA and the fatwa against Salman Rushdie. DeLillo also discusses the themes of time and loss in his recent short novels ('Cosmopolis', 'Body Art', 'Point Omega'), his admiration for William Gaddis and Gilbert Sorrentino, and his acceptance of being 'a writer among the ruins'.