Knoebel statements: "My pieces are usually short. I think I'm a genetic minimalist (less is more, and more is better), but I think this preference also comes from the recognition that a lot of people don't read very far into a multi-page work. I build my pieces by putting together a few simple elements. The interest for me is in the elements' interactions. These are generally not simple and their complexity may increase geometrically as the number of elements increases arithmetically. When I start to make larger pieces, I'll build them by putting smaller ones together, on the model of, say, a coral reef. The reader could start anywhere in the structure, stay for a short time or a longer time, and come away with a complete experience in either case."

"...when we drive down the street, we are surrounded by words that pass us by. Driving home, we encounter the same signs we saw on the way to work, in reverse order. Trips around town, to the gas station, the supermarket, or the post office, reveal additional orderings of the same set of signs. The words become part of other events in our field of vision. They are no longer bound to a single continuous surface or to a preordained sequence."