Sculpture Studio Spring 2012

Project 3: Site, Place, and Installation
ARTIST RESEARCH

One of the most influential and prominent artists in the site-specific art world is Jenny Holzer.  Holzer has demonstrated both skills in material manipulation, as well as in the conceptual strength, of her art.  She has used technology such as LED screens, lighting displays, and screen-printing; material such as granite, bronze, and basic paper and wheat paste application, in her pieces.  In all of we work, Holzer has stayed true to her belief in the power of language, the concept that the combination of art and language is the most powerful communicator.

Some of the projects Holzer has done demonstrate her innate understanding of the space she works in and with, and her love of language. Holzer’s “Truism” project from the 1970’s was her first experiment with language in the public space. Anonymously, Holzer placed short phrases around New York City.  The sayings, such as “Children are the cruelest of all,” “Children are the hope of the future,” “Fear is the greatest incapacitator,” and “Freedom is a luxury not a necessity” (Archive) were printed in black ink on white paper and pasted around the city. These unexpected statements captured the attention of the everyday pedestrian, who transformed into the viewer.  The statements were short so that someone walking past could experience them, but packed full of meaning, so that they would linger in the pedestrian/ viewer’s mind.

From her “Truisms” project, Holzer moved on to install the “Living Series,” a compellation of granite benches and bronze plaques communicating daily living and everyday topics.  The junction between the normal, everyday voice communicating mundane statements, and the material used, which is traditionally assigned to governmental, historical, or otherwise of high importance information, creates an intriguing dialogue.  Holzer puts her ordinary phrases on a type of pedestal through their presentation.  Traditionally, people will be more inclined to stop and read a bench or a plaque and will already has a preconception that whatever is written on this bench or plaque is worthy of their time, that it marks something important—either location, memorial, or person. Holzer uses this preconception to draw in her audience.  One example of a statement printed on the aluminum and bronze plaques demonstrates the familiarity of Holzer’s language: “The smallest thing can make somebody sexually unappealing. A misplaced mole or a particular hair pattern can do it. There’s no reason for this but it’s just as well” (Art Observed). The language itself is simple, colloquial, but due to the medium on which it is presented, the voice moves toward an authoritative tone, telling the viewer that what it written is so; the viewer is separated from the conversation, left without a say.

Holzer moves on to more provocative language in her projection projects.  Seen in ten different countries around the world, on both architectural structure and the natural landscapes—mountainsides, in river surfaces, on dunes, Holzer’s projections have truly impressed the world (Archive).  Factors such as the language chosen, space, time, and size are all relevant to these projects.

The words illuminated on these structures are no longer her own, but instead are taken from notable poets such as the Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska, the Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai, and the American poet and playwright May Swenson (Art Observed).  The space consideration takes into account both the entire structure, or projection, and the text.  Holzer projects short messages, sometimes containing few words, but of vast size.  One message can cover the entire side of a multiple-story building, while others must run onto the ground or water source below the building because they are too expansive, though this is a conscious and deliberate decision on Holzer’s part.  Using this type of technological set up allows Holzer to reach an extensive audience, mostly pedestrians passing by the site. Her work seems to pull on our constant submersion in the technology world advertising world.  Holzer’s pieces work in a two-fold act: the viewer is captured first by the unexpected, but then by the acceptance of seeing technology used in the public sphere.      

In all of Holzer’s work, the concept of space is extremely integral to the installation.  She painstakingly takes into consideration all of the different elements a room, a building, or even a landscape may offer or impede in her installation of her work. Light, motion, noise, and even the smells of the space are considered (Archive).  While Holzer is known for her work outside, she also creates mind-blowing exhibitions and installations indoors. Two examples of how space is redefined in her indoor installations are highlighted in her exhibition “Protect Protect” and the new World Trade Center building.  In her piece “For Chicago” which is comprised of 10 long and narrow LED signs lying on the floor, text of declassified papers from the government quickly runs down the length of the screens (Robinson).  The floor becomes that artist’s canvas, and the composition of the piece itself, dictates to the audience how to act around it, how to experience it. A second piece by Holzer, which demonstrates how important site-specificity is to her work, is seen in her 7 World Trade Center piece.  Poetry runs across a 65-feet-wide by 14-feet-long LED screen in the World Trade Center lobby (wikipedia). The images reflect and refract on the glass walls and doors that encompass the lobby, creating an entirely new space, defined by text instead of physical structures.

Holzer’s artwork recreates both the space it consumes, as well as the language it presents. Although her language may change dialect and type of voice- authoritative, personal, unexpecting, Holzer always draws in and provokes a response from her viewer.

Art 21, "Jenny Holzer." Last modified 2012. Accessed March 19, 2012. http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/jenny-holzer.

Art Observed, "Jenny Holzer." Accessed March 19, 2012. http://artobserved.com/artimages/2010/12/Jenny_Holzer_Retro_Skarstedt_Gallery_2010_9.jpg.

The Art History Archive, "Jenny Holzer." Accessed March 19, 2012. http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/contemporary/Jenny-Holzer.html.

Jenny Holzer, "Projections." Accessed March 19, 2012. http://www.jennyholzer.com/list.php.

Robinson, Walter. Artnet, "Weekend Update." Last modified 2012. Accessed March 19, 2012. http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/reviews/robinson/robinson3-20-09.asp.

Wikipedis, the free encylopedia, "Jenny Holze." Last modified march, 6 2012. Accessed March 19, 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Holzer.

Images

http://www.jennyholzer.com/Projections/site/

A contemporary German photographer, Thomas Demand redefines the concept of both site-specific artwork, and photography. Demand works from memory, photographs from news sources such as magazines and newspapers, and from found places.  His technique is simple, yet incredibly elaborate at the same time.  From the scenes he sees or remembers, Demand constructs 3D paper replicas.  He takes a photograph of the model he has created, and then he destroys the model (Today and Tomorrow).  His final piece is the photograph, not the sculpture he painstakingly worked on for sometimes months at a time. The snapshots of a pseudo reality he creates, makes his viewer do a double take.  The reconstructions are extremely similar to reality, but allow just the right amount of dissimilarity between the two so that viewers question what they are looking at.  The difference creates a “gap between truth and fiction” (Kimmelman), a gap that creates a sense of distrust between artist and viewer.  

Through manipulating paper and cardboard, Demand constructs models of a stairway at the school he attended as a child, the tunnel where Princess Diana died in a car crash, the kitchen in which Saddam Hussein hid, the Oval office, an airport security checkpoint, and a television studio (Kimmelman). None of Demand’s pieces include human figures, though some scenes look lived in, and others are directly correlated to specific individuals.  Some viewers may have the feeling that they are already familiar with the scene in Demand’s photograph, but that there is something slightly “off” in what is presented before them and their own memory.  Demand has been dubbed a “reproducer and an illusionist” (greenneonlight).  His photography bends the boundaries of truth, so in this way he is an illusionist. Photography was originally an art known for its ability to capture reality, to capture truth without emotional or artistic manipulation.  What was displayed on the photograph was what the artist saw when he or she took the picture.  Demand does not alter a negative; he does not manipulate the developing process in the camera or in the darkroom.  His photographs are in fact straight images of what he sees through the lens.  But what he sees is a very well constructed reproduction of reality.

Demand’s pieces compel the viewer to question what he or she sees in the photograph.  At first the image is assumed to be reality, but soon one aspect does not seem to fit, then another, until eventually, the viewer scrutinizes every aspect of the photograph.  This reassures the viewer that in fact, the image taken was of a model.  Questioning Demand’s photographs leads the viewer to question his or her surroundings and reality.  His photographs call attention to the different types of images, concepts, beliefs we are presented with everyday that are to be assumed true, or truth.   

Demand’s piece “Tunnel,” is unlike most of his other work. The video piece is compiled from one reconstructed scene and creates an eerie, uneasy feeling for the viewer.  The scene is familiar but difficult to place at first, especially for someone my age.  But once the location is realized, either from reading the description, or from an internal memory, a sense of dread flows over the body.  Over and over, for ten minutes, the viewer is faced with entering and existing the tunnel in which the British Royal, Princess Diana was killed in a car crash (UbuWeb). After realizing what the scene is, the viewers own memories and emotions rush back to him or her, and the video takes on a personal quality. 

Demand’s concept of site-specific work is at times playful, but at other times quite humorless. He manipulates both the material to create the model, and the mind of his viewer into almost believing his work, then questioning it thoroughly. His scenes are sometimes political and sometimes commonplace in content, but the process behind their creation remains layered and precise.

Today Tomorrow, "Thomas Demand." Last modified October 13, 2009. Accessed March 19, 2012. http://www.todayandtomorrow.net/2009/10/13/thomas-demand/.

Kimmelman, Michael. California State University, Dominguez Hills, "Backup of Painterly Photographs of a Slyly Handmade RealitE." Last modified 2005. Accessed March 19, 2012. http://www.csudh.edu/dearhabermas/artdemand01bk.htm.

UbuWeb, "Thomas Demand." Accessed March 19, 2012. http://www.ubu.com/film/demand_tunnel.html.

WordPress.com weblog, "Thomas Demand." Last modified April 6, 2012. Accessed March 19, 2012.

images

http://www.csudh.edu/dearhabermas/artdemand01bk.htm

http://greenneonlight.wordpress.com/2010/04/06/thomas-demand/