Have you ever heard a quote and thought ‘wow, that’s so
true’? Jenny Holzer aims to captivate exactly that reaction with her art. This
Neo- Conceptual artist has captivated her audience with what she calls
‘Truisims’ that often convey contradictory messages. These phrases touch on
subject matters of feminist thinking, religion, politics, power, sex and all
things controversial.
CRACK THE PELVIS SO SHE
LIES RIGHT, THIS IS A MISTAKE. WHEN SHE DIES YOU CANNOT REPEAT THE ACT
Truisim
displaying the idea of male dominance and their control of women
I first discovered Holzer
on a trip to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Displayed there is her piece entitled
IT TAKES A WHILE BEFORE YOU CAN STEP OVER INERT BODIES, consistent of twenty-
eight granite benches with phrases inscribed in them.
My personal favorite?, ‘WHEN YOU ARE ON THE VERGE OF
DETERMINING THAT YOU DON’T LIKE SOMEONE IT’S AWFUL WHEN HE SMILES AND HIS
TEETH LOOK ABSOLUTELY EVEN AND FALSE’
 |
| Holzer’s piece at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden |
She
is able to reach her audience through the use of a technological framework.
Holzer has tried to model contemporary society’s use of advertising practices.
To a generation that receives much of it’s information through advertisements,
Jenny has been able to transmit her messages in the form of electric
soundboards, merchandise sales, and even condoms to reach her audience. 
Holzer truly is an example of what James C Kaufman and Ronald A. Beghetto would call an eminent creative or Big- C creative.
Jenny Holzer was chosen to represent the United States in the Italy's Venice Biennale as their first female artist in 1989
and one the most prestigious that year of the Golden Lion. As part of her
piece, Holzer sold hats, posters, and T- shirts displaying her Truisims in
various languages. Since then she has received worldwide praise and recognition
for her provocative and captivating work, signs Kaufman and Beghetto would
agree make her a true Big- C creative.
But before entering into the rank of a Big- C creative, Holzer was a Pro- C creative. After moving to New York to pursue her career as an artist, Holzer printed her Truisms anonymously on simple white paper in black italicized script and post then on buildings, posters, and telephone booths. She then asked her audience to scribble any works or phrases her Truisims evoked and would then wait to hear the conversation that followed. The Public Arts Fund program realized her talent and funded her next piece of artwork, an L.E.D machine that would flash her words on buildings located in heavily populated places such as in Times Square, Washington, D.C., and the Guggenheim Museum. Her continuing popularity and recognition caused her to move from the realm of a Pro- C creative to a Big- C creative.
Sources:
Kaufman, James
C., & Beghetto, Ronald A. (2009). Beyond Big and Little: The Four C Model of
Creativity.
I think that the idea of truisms, as utilized by Holzer, is a very interesting type of big-C creativity. There is no doubt there has been widespread change because of the art she displays, but I think the way the art is displayed is very relevant to the Millennial generation. In a generation with a reputation for having relatively short attention spans, these short phrases with controversial topics catch a person off-guard and can cause an abrupt reevaluation of a wide range of topics, from taboo to accepted (yet underdeveloped) ways of thinking.
ReplyDeleteIn relation to the platforms on which her art is displayed, I am interested to look up more examples of her art. The idea of the feminist advertisement on a condom package is genius and I think it would be very interesting to see other ways in which she uses different packaging to advertise relevant truisms. It is also easy to see how much creativity is required in the art Holzer makes; not only is thinking of a truism quite difficult, but the display of the art is just as critical to the success of the message being spread.
This post was quite informational and something I have not heard about before. Thanks for posting. :)