Site-specific art must address and be relevant to many issues. The site in which the art is placed must have relevance to its meaning. Jenny Holzer’s Truisms are not only set in public, but in an appropriate location. For example, her truism that reads, “Raise boys and girls the same way,” had such a powerful impact because it was located in a baseball stadium where the focus is male-centered and the idea of family is ever-present. Her statement clashes with the paragon of American baseball families, thus arousing a more copious reaction than if the audience weren’t clashing with the statement. In site-specific work, the audience must also be considered. Again, Holzer’s audience clashed with her statement, which in her case, worked perfectly with her statement. Art that is site-specific must also consider how the site plays a role in the piece, and how the art is more significant in a specific setting. For example, the setting of Molly’s door is significant because it gives viewers an opportunity and an invitation to look into a space that they normally pass by. It specifically directs viewers’ attention and people realize this once they step through the door. If the door were facing the other way toward the pond, the door wouldn’t enhance the landscape more than it is already enhanced. The paths already give a wonderful view of the pond, and it doesn’t go unnoticed. If her door were facing the pond, nothing would be different besides the fact that people would walk through a door, and thus the door would not be significant. Sculpture that is site-specific must consider how the site enhances the sculpture’s meaning in terms of appropriate place and appropriate audience.
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