Jenny Holzer
«o.T.: Neue Nationalgalerie»

Jenny Holzer almost always writes her texts herself. These consist of condensed, living truths such as: «ABUSE OF POWER COMES AS NO SURPRISE», «AN ELITE IS INEVITABLE», «EXTREM SELF-CONCIOUSNESS LEADS TO PERVERSION», «GOVERNMENT IS A BURDEN ON THE PEOPLE», or «MURDER HAS ITS SEXUAL SIDE». What seems at first playful, amusing, and at other times provoking, reveals itself to be, under closer inspection, a fundamental critique of our western, democratic lifestyle and social forms. One often has to read Jenny Holzer’s texts several times and, during the initial viewing, piece them together word by word before arriving at the overall meaning. Through this repeating procedure we absorb into ourselves texts that ultimately speak their way into our consciousness; texts that set in operation the artist’s intended process of «afterthought»; and texts whose melody of language oscillates between poetry and Pop song.