“I appreciate and depend on the ephemeral and disembodied – and on solid rocks. I arrived at stone as a material when I started to do gallery shows. I didn't want people to have to stand to read my texts on electronic signs. I wanted people to be comfortable, and to take time to look. So I thought to provide benches, and it came to me that I could put writing on the seating, and the benches should be stone … When words are carved in stone, they can be touched, they can be read with the hand; they might be perceived differently than when on the page.”
P erfectly capturing Jenny Holzer’s unique fusion of art and language through a medium that is typical of her interest in public space, All things are Delicately Interconnected… is an outstanding example of the artist’s radical oeuvre. Executed a year after her initial foray into stone-work in 1986, the present work emerges from Holzer’s series of Truisms, in which the artist takes ambiguous, highly compelling written slogans, one-liners and phrases and inscribes them onto posters, light projections, billboards, t-shirts, LEDs, metal plaques, and indeed through marble benches such as the present work.
Heavy and solid, the white marble imbues the present work with a sense of remembrance. The solid stone enacts not only a permanence to the object but a degree of importance. Carved into the polished surface, Holzer’s Truisms in turn are charged with the same quality of severity. While often ambiguous, Holzer's written sentiments are deeply compelling, ranging from introspective statements like “you are the past present and future” to pointedly jarring “starvation is nature’s way.” Indeed, she even goes a step further to criticize the limitations of her own artistic medium, inscribing on the far left end of the bench: “Words tend to be inadequate.” Prompting the viewer to stand and read rather than sit, the present work embodies both a physicality and conceptual rigor that lies at the heart of Jenny Holzer’s oeuvre.
All things are delicately interconnected
Anger or hate can be a useful motivating force
Boredom makes you do crazy things
Categorizing fear is calming
Crime against property is relatively unimportant
Disgust is the appropriate response to most situations
Expiring for love is beautiful but stupid
Freedom is a luxury not a necessity
Grass roots agitation is the only hope
Holding back protects your vital energies
Low expectations are good protection
Raise boys and girls the same way
Random mating is good for debunking sex myths
Recluses always get weak
You are the past present and future
