"Build a good name", rock poet Patti Smith advises the young. "Life is like a roller coaster, it is going to have beautiful moments but it is going to be real fucked up, too", she says.

The American singer, poet and photographer Patti Smith (b. 1946) is a living punk rock legend. In this video she gives advice to the young:

"Build a good name. Keep your name clean. Don’t make compromises, don’t worry about making a bunch of money or being successful. Be concerned about doing good work. Protect your work and if you build a good name, eventually that name will be its own currency. Life is like a roller coaster ride, it is never going to be perfect. It is going to have perfect moments and rough spots, but it’s all worth it", Patti Smith says.

Interview by Christian Lund, the Louisiana Literature festival August 24, 2012, at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.

Produced by Honey Biba Beckerlee and Kamilla Bruus.

Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.

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Louisiana Channel is a non-profit video channel for the Internet launched by the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in November 2012. Each week Louisiana Channel will publish videos about and with artists in visual art, literature, architecture, design etc.

Read more: channel.louisiana.dk/about

Supported by Nordea-fonden.