Jenny Holzer
Jenny Holzer
Jenny Holzer is an American neo-conceptual artist, based in Hoosick Falls, New York. The main focus of her work is the delivery of words and ideas in public spaces...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPainter
Date of Birth29 July 1950
CountryUnited States of America
real thinking fake-world
Well, I think in trying to make life seem real enough that one is moved to do something about the more atrocious things. By going really far afield into a completely fake world, maybe there's a chance to make things resonant somehow - or in this case, truly terrifying. To make it as bad as the real stuff that's happening.
thinking sloppy
Sloppy thinking gets worse over time.
thinking people pieces
I think of a piece, and then people who are competent fabricate it. But lately I've started finger painting, which probably should be a joke but isn't!
believe thinking done
BY YOUR RESPONSE TO DANGER IT IS EASY TO TELL HOW YOU HAVE LIVED AND WHAT HAS BEEN DONE TO YOU. YOU SHOW WHETHER YOU WANT TO STAY ALIVE, WHETHER YOU THINK YOU DESERVE TO, AND WHETHER YOU BELIEVE IT'S ANY GOOD TO ACT.
thinking people support
I wanted to support things that are helpful to people and maybe bash what I think is dangerous. So I switched from being everybody to being myself.
sleep night thinking
I get up about four times a night and go back to sleep, or not. Then I swill tea around 8 a.m. I answer e-mail, while I stall thinking about whatever scares me.
beauty closer light might terrible
There's something about light that's right for these terrible subjects. It's a way of having beauty let you come closer than you might otherwise.
light terrible
There's something about light that's right for these terrible subjects,
So much of art-making is about reducing things to the essentials, so I don't feel particularly crippled by this. I don't want it to look natural because then I would be making a documentary film.
became benches changed interested moved upstate
One thing that changed when I moved upstate was that I became interested in different materials. I started making the stone benches because I was seeing rocks.
art suspect
I suspect you've noticed that making art can be lonely.
optimistic numbers way
Usually going places makes me feel optimistic. And I'm a hillbilly, so heading to the countryside made sense a number of ways.
art always-trying world
I'm always trying to bring unusual content to a different audience - a non-art-world audience.
be-kind want dramatic
It can be kind of gruesome at times, making things alone. I don't want to be too dramatic, but it's hard. It's necessary to start most work alone.