During my brief New York residency, there was an amazing public art project on 42nd Street. Called simply “The 42nd Street Project,” artists took over abandoned shop fronts between Broadway and 8th Avenue and did as they pleased with them. Todd Oldham gussied up an erstwhile peep show with kitchy 60s designs. Nam June Paik installed a few dozen monitors and played endless loops of his video work. But to me, the best was the work of Jenny Holzer, who placed her truisms on the street’s many empty theatre marquees. Walking down the sidewalk, glancing up at the marquees was a jarring experience: where you might expect to see titles like “The Young and the Hung XXII” or “Kitten Natividad’s All-Girl Revue,” instead you got little lectures, little epiphanies. It was breathtaking, in a way.
Today, while waiting for some documents to upload on my blazing 56k dial-up, I was flipping through a book of Ms. Holzer’s and accidentally rediscovered some of these pieces. For the both of you who’ve never seen/heard them, here’s a few of my favorites:
YOU LIVE THE SURPRISE RESULTS OF OLD PLANS.
IT IS IN YOUR SELF-INTEREST TO FIND A WAY TO BE VERY TENDER.
THE BREAKDOWN COMES WHEN YOU STOP CONTROLLING YOURSELF AND WANT THE RELEASE OF A BLOODBATH.
SPIT ALL OVER SOMEONE WITH A MOUTHFUL OF MILK IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT SOMETHING ABOUT HIS PERSONALITY FAST.
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