#arth 344

Both artists Jenny Holzer and Mikko Kuorinki produce art works that examine language, relationships and self.

1. Jenny Holzer

Holzer's Truisms (1977-9) series consists of statements and original thoughts which Holzer displays in print as well as publicly in the form of signs and landscape projections. Her work is not only a beautiful exploration of language and inspiration, it reveals the internal conflicts of self as well as critiques and provides commentary on social and political issues. 

Holzer's projection and sign work thrusts truths and knowledge into the everyday public landscape, provoking intelligent thought as well as self-reflection. The public presentation and various mediums of Holzer's Truisms make her work very accessible and relatable while simultaneously possessing a unique voice that is succinct, powerful and poetic. 

2. Mikko Kuorinki

Kuorinki's Wall Piece with 200 Letters (2010-1) is a similar exploration of language and an examinations of personal relationships and the psyche. However, Kuorinki's work resides inside a museum rather than Holzer's intricate intigration with the public sphere. Additionally, Kuorinki's work examines the relationship between individual self and surrounding realities through the limitations of 200 letters. Each day, Kuorinki exhibited a new phrase or statement on the gallery wall using and rearranging a collection of 200 letters. Therefore, each day revealed a new thought, personal truth or expression. 

While the voices and presentations of the art of Jenny Holzer and Mikko Kuorinki have distinct differences in the categories of personal voice and relation to the public realm, both beautifully experiment with language and the power of expressing thoughts and realizations. Holzer's work greatly examines the relationships between the self and others as well as strong social and political critique, while Kuorinki's work is more representative of the conflict and contemplations of the individual mind and depression. Though Holzer's work makes direct contact to everyday public life and therefore has a wider reach, Kuorinki's daily alternations and unique examination of the possibilities within a limited range of letters is equally admirable. 

Jenny Holzer's 1994 series LUSTMORD is a politically bold statement against murder and rape inspired by the war in Bosnia that's display combines technology and the body. The title comes from the German word lusmord, which stands for sexual murder involving rape. LUSTMORD opened at the Barbara Gladstone Gallery in New York and consisted of a series of displayed bones, LED screens/signs and photographs of bodies inked with the words depicting the experiences of sexual murder, violence and rape through poem. The bones displayed were those of both men and women, and the bones were, for example, fingers and collarbones that often attributed to being sensual parts of the body. The bones were inscribed with words from Holzer's poem. The signs of the installation contain a poem that depicts an exchange between a perpetrator, a victim and an observer. The piece also involved photographs of excerpts of the poem written in ink upon human flesh. LUSTMORD is a reaction to the use of rape and sexual violence as a military tactic, and is meant to shed light on the way these dark and horrific experiences have been normalized in western society and dismissed as mere tactics or their darkness and severity are simply ignored. The work is presented in a space resembling a dark tomb, with the only light coming from the screen and projected upon the bones and the photographs. The poem scrolls in bold neon letters across the scenes continually. The full text is never shown all at once, illustrating the multiple voices and viewpoints. Viewers were allowed to touch and stroke the bones. LUSTMORD beautifully, darkly and hauntingly depicts the disturbing realities of war and sexual violence. 

PERPETRATOR:

I SWIM IN HER AS SHE QUITES. I SINK ON HER. I SING HER A SONG ABOUT US. I STEP ON HER HANDS. I SPLAY HER FINGERS. SHE ROOTS WITH HER BLUNT FACE. SHE HUNTS ME WITH HER MOUTH. SHE HAS THREE COLORS IN HER EYES. I BITE HER CLOSED AGAIN. I AM NEAR HER MILK. I TELL HER TO SOAP HERSELF. SHE TIGHTENS AND I HIT HER. I WASH HER OUT. I WATCH HER WHILE SHE THINKS ABOUT ME. HER SALIVA RUNS WHEN SHE SLEEPS. I HOOK HER SPINE. SHE HAS A URINE SMELL. HER SWALLOW REFLEX IS GONE. HER HEAD EXPLODES IN THE FIRE. HER BREASTS ARE ALL NIPPLE. SHE ACTS LIKE AN ANIMAL LEFT FOR COOKING. I FIND HER SQUATTING ON HER HEELS AND THIS OPENS HER SO I CAN GET HER FROM BELOW. I TAKE HER FACE WITH ITS FINE HAIRS. I POSITION HER MOUTH. I WANT TO FUCK HER WHERE SHE HAS TOO MUCH HAIR. I HOOK MY CHIN OVER HER SHOULDER. NOW THAT SHE CAN STILL CONCENTRATE. SHE HAS NO TASTE LEFT TO HER AND THIS MAKES IT EASIER FOR ME. THE COLOR OF HER WHERE SHE IS INSIDE IS ENOUGH TO MAKE ME KILL HER.

  VICTIM:

I AM AWAKE IN A PLACE WHERE WOMEN DIE. THE BIRD TURNS ITS HEAD AND LOOKS AT ME WITH ONE EYE AS YOU ENTER. MY BREASTS ARE SO SWOLLEN THAT I BITE THEM. YOUR AWFUL LANGUAGE IS IN THE AIR BY MY HEAD. I DO NOT LIKE TO WALK BECAUSE I FEEL IT BETWEEN MY LEGS. HAIR IS STUCK INSIDE ME. MY NOSE BROKE IN THE GRASS. MY EYES ARE SORE MOVING AGAINST YOUR PALM. I HAVE THE BLOOD JELLY. WITH YOU INSDE ME COMES THE KNOWLEDGE OF MY DEATH. YOU HAVE SKIN IN YOUR MOUTH. YOU LICK ME STUPIDLY.YOU CONFUSE ME WITH SOMETHING THAY IS IN YOU. I WILL NOT PREDICT HOW YOU WANT TO USE ME.I FEEL WHO YOU ARE AND IT DOES ME NO GOOD AT ALL.I TRY TO EXCITE MYSELF SO I STAY CRAZY. WHAT IS LEFT ON THE BLANKET IS CLEAR AND THE COLOR OF HELL.

  OBSERVER:

Rivane Neuenschwander's I Wish Your Wish is a participatory art installation piece first shown at the Museu de Arte Moderno Aluisio Magalhaes in Recife, Brazil in 2004. In traditional São Salvador church Nosso Senhor do Bonfirm pilgrimage practices, ribbons are tied around a wrist symbolizing a wish or hope, and when that ribbon disintegrates and falls off that wish is said to come true. Inspired by that idea, Neuenschawander created I Wish Your Wish, consisting of a wall of ribbons silkscreened with the wishes of friends and strangers which the gallery-goers are then encouraged to take and tie to their wrists until they fall off. Neuenschwander encouraged participants to observe the ribbons and pick out a wish that was similar to one of their own, inspiring a communal connection and hope for the future; a realization that you are not alone in your struggles or dreams.

Participants were also encouraged to write down their own wishes, which Neuenschwander would then collect and silk screen onto ribbons that would then be displayed at the next showing of the piece. 

The ribbons have been printed in spanish as well as english, and the installation has shown in such sites as Brazil, Carnegie International and Pittsburgh. 

I Wish Your Wish connects people on a personal level, and encourages a selfless mindset of bearing other people's burdens and aiding in their dreams or goals with the simple gesture of indicating similarities and wearing a ribbon that expresses those similarities. 

Judy Chicago's feminist art installation The Dinner Party was first shown in 1979, after which it toured through many cities, and is now permanently on display at the Brooklyn Art Museum. The work was created through a collaboration of various groups and is a depiction of 39 place sittings representative of 39 famous and mythical women. The table sits atop a tile floor containing the carved names of 999 more women whose lives are mapped out and portrayed on seven surrounding Heritage Panels. The project was created in hopes of honoring women who are continuously and commonly left out of history due to their gender being a diminishing factor for their work or contributions to the world. The triangular table consists of 39 square sections that are filled with 39 separate plates, napkins, utensils and drinking glasses which were painted, sewn and embroidered by a number of volunteers, both men and women. The Dinner Party, due to its connection to the domestic realms of food, cooking and decor is meant to not only be a celebration of these women but a statement of the merit and notability of crafts and domestic art that are usually mocked or uncelebrated in the dominantly male culture of art and art galleries. 

Because it was a celebration of female artists and figures, mythical and real, many of the place settings involve some sort of vaginal or vulval imagery or influence. One of the most famous and interesting of these is the author Virginia Woolf's plate:

Woolf's setting consists of a blooming flower plate, which Chicago states as a representation of Woolf's "advocation for unrestricted passion" through her work and her life. Flowers also represent fertility and growth, which women play a large part in throughout life. The center of the flower is also bursting open, a visual meant to represent Woolf's attempts to challenge and break free of the restrictions placed upon her by male literature throughout her career. There is also a stitched light beam beneath the plate, representative of Woolf's book To The Lighthouse and the ability Woolf had to illuminate ideas for others. The waves depicted by Woolf's name are to highlight Woolf's famous novel The Waves and are also a reminder of Woolf's suicide in a river. (more information of Virginia Woolf's plate and others here.)

Another of the place settings belongs to the poet Emily Dickinson. Dickinson was very reclusive and reserved, yet she flourished through her writing. Thus, her place setting, while minimalistic, is still intricate and dynamic like her writing. Her setting also greatly draws upon the aesthetics of the Victorian culture in which she lived. Her plate is not solid and is rather is made from various layers of delicate lace that was saturated into porcelain. Dickinson's place is very feminine because she was trapped in a very divided world that restricted her to stark femininity in terms of expression. Chicago states that Dickinson's place setting was inspired by this poem of Dickinson's:

I HIDE myself within my flower,   That wearing on your breast,  You, unsuspecting, wear me too—  And angels know the rest.  

  The installation also involved a wall of plaques thanks and commemorating the 129 members of the creative and administrative team of the work for their help and contributions to the piece.

In 1996, artist, performer, author and activist Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues  was first performed. Conceived as a play to raise awareness to women's issues such as sex, anatomy, violence, abuse and various other experiences of women, Ensler's play has served as a project focused on female empowerment and anti-violence since its debut. Perhaps the most well-known feminist participatory, collaborative and public art project in history, The Vagina Monologues are a series of monologues based off of the experiences of women and trans*women around the world, inspired by stories and information Ensler gathered from interviews and conversations with those groups. While Ensler's work was originally performed at the HERE Arts Center and later the Off Broadway Westside Theatre primarily by Ensler herself, The Vagina Monologues  are now performed annually at colleges, universities and community theaters around the world. The Monologues are performed at as many as 140 countries in 48 languages and serve to unite female performers of various ethnicities and backgrounds as well as their male and female audiences in a "celebration of vaginas", and in an empowerment of women with a hope to raise awareness and end sexual assault and violence.

Along with the Monologues  themselves, Ensler began the V-Day Movement, which are benefit performances of the Monologues that occur on Valentine's Day each year and support victims of abuse and violence by contributing proceeds to rape crisis centers and other shelters and organizations that help women. 

In 2004, Ensler included a new transgender-focused monologue, a result of the experiences of the first all-trans* cast that performed in LA that same year. Over the years Ensler has added to and altered the Monologues and the experience has changed and grown. 

Through comedy and sadness, The Vagina Monologues are a very touching and participatory experience which cause the performers not only to examine their own experiences and beliefs, but challenge the audience to share in these experiences and have more awareness and empathy for others. You do not need to consider yourself a performer in order to be involved in this project, you don't even necessarily have to identify as a feminist. The Vagina Monologues are a project aimed at being open and sharing experiences in order to celebrate and remember the beautiful, strong and funny woman-identified people in our lives. If you have not seen them, I highly suggest you do! The Vagina Monologues are an almost indescribable experience of love and diversity.

Despite the great courage and impact of Ensler's work, there are some problematic aspects to the work. Despite, the inclusion of the transgender monologue, many of the productions can be transphobic and exclusive, and some feminists have also critiqued the play as equating men with 'the enemy' and having a restrictive view of sexuality as well as at times giving inaccurate information regarding female anatomy.