Manifesto: I live like I am____

When I was creating a manifesto, I thought about what could and could not be said in the academic setting, and thought this was a great opportunity to just let it out.

‘I live like I am ________’ you fill in the words, how do you want to live? how do you think I live? I wanted to live like a censored world, where your mind just automatically fill in the blanks that dictate what I believe in. it could be anything under the sun, but for the sake of saying what I wanted to say i created a version that is only partially blanked out by a blacked box.

 

Key Work Selection: ‘For the Guggenheim’ by Jenny Holzer

Words projected on the outside of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

(image taken from: https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/jenny-holzers-for-the-guggenheim)

I chose the work ‘For the Guggenheim’ by Jenny Holzer.

Jenny Holzer is well known for her aphorism and condense narratives on LED billboards, engraved in plaques or projected on buildings.  They generally are condensed into the various series of ‘laments’, ‘truisms’ and ‘Inflammatory Essays’

Holzer’s work ‘For the Guggenheim’ is a large scale projection of various aphorisms and condense narratives over the Guggenheim museum. The building was overlaid with scrolling bold, white texts that ranged from one liners and short narratives.  They pull various emotions and intrigue the audience to think upon the words of advice flashing on the Guggenheim, some almost haunting drawing one to think of past memories. An example of such quotes, “the little soul roams among, those landscapes, disappear, returns, draws near, moves away, evasive…” it somehow intrigues one to imagine, wander and maybe reflect on what these words mean to them.

Holzer believes in both message and the medium used, as such her words are a call to the general public to make them think Critically. One of her most famous sentences, ‘Protect Me from What I Want’ and ‘Abuse of Power Comes as No Surprise’ are used to draw people to social injustice.

References:

  • The Art Story. (2018). Jenny Holzer Overview and Analysis. [online] Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/artist-holzer-jenny.htm [Accessed 9 Sep. 2018].
  • Guggenheim. (2018). Jenny Holzer: For the Guggenheim. [online] Available at: https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/jenny-holzers-for-the-guggenheim [Accessed 9 Sep. 2018].
  • Smith, R. (2018). Review/Art; Holzer Makes the Guggenheim a Museum of Many Messages. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/13/arts/review-art-holzer-makes-the-guggenheim-a-museum-of-many-messages.html [Accessed 9 Sep. 2018].