Jenny Holzer, [no title] 1979–82. Tate. © Jenny Holzer, member/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
See Jenny Holzer's ‘Inflammatory Essays’ street posters
In the 1970s Holzer abandoned her practice as an abstract painter in order to make more explicit statements and to establish more direct contact with a larger audience than would visit galleries. Her art began to appear in the form of texts on posters which were exposed on the streets like fly-posters. In Jeanne Siegel's article and interview with the artist Holzer stated: ‘From the beginning, my work has been designed to be stumbled across in the course of a person's daily life. I think it has the most impact when someone is just walking along, not thinking about anything in particular, and then finds these unusual statements either on a poster or in a sign.’
The texts are provocative and their subjects range from the scientific to the political and interpersonal. According to Siegel almost any subject seemed suitable for exposition, with the exception of art which was deliberately avoided. Holzer explained to Siegel as follows:
What I tried to do, starting with the Truisms and then with the other series, was to hit on as many topics as possible. The truism format was good for this since you can concisely make observations on almost any topic. Increasingly I tried to pick hot topics. With the next series ‘Inflammatory Essays’, I wrote about things that were unmentionable or that were the burning question of the day.
Jenny Holzer, [no title] 1979–82
The Inflammatory Essays present a range of provocative statements which were inspired by the texts of political theorists, religious fanatics and impassioned 'folk' literature. Since childhood, Holzer has been interested in 'rapturous writing' and wanted to write 'ecstatic, fantastic things'. Each essay has exactly 100 words in twenty lines, and Holzer uses this rigid format to explore a range of extreme ideas. She questions the viewer's response by setting fanatical statements against the certainties of common opinion. Originally the Essays were fly-posted across New York City.
Gallery label, October 2000
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