Living

In the late 1970s, Holzer began anonymously posted sheets of words, known as Truisms, in public spaces. Posted to telephone booths, walls, street lights, buildings, etc. were rows and rows of short, ironic, often acerbic statements, such as “ABUSE OF POWER COMES AS NO SURPRISE,” “THE ONLY WAY TO BE PURE IS TO STAY BY YOURSELF” and “REPETITION IS THE BEST WAY TO LEARN THINGS.” Originally generated by the reading list of the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program and its socially progressive and intellectually challenging classes in which artists, curators, and writers engage critical theory and art, Holzer did not source her quotes, thus leaving them anonymous. By placing her work in places not traditionally associated with art (such as the electronic banner at Times Square), leaving her works unsigned and hence without an author (although she was soon connected with the works and celebrated in the commercial gallery system), and producing a large quantity of pieces in diverse forms (t-shirts, marble benches, LED banners, posters, pencils, videos), Holzer hopes to make her art available to a wide public. Her manner of display is that of an intervention and, by showing her work in such a way, her hope is that it might reach a broad public and encourage different modes of perceiving art and the larger world. This book makes reference to Holzer's "Living" series (1980-1982) in which she created bronze plaques that evoke authority and commemoration, as well as the political, cultural, social, and economic systems that create and maintain systems of order, structure, regulation, and commerce to their benefit.