Exhibiting and working with the ‘Next Gen. Creatives’ exhibition at Attenborough Art Centre in Leicester has been a joy and an inspirational experience. Based on Jenny Holzer’s exhibition at the centre, Holzer’s ‘truisms’ influenced us to explore poetry, zines, printmaking, short films, performance art and even interactive art.
I have sectioned this blog to fully explore the concepts and motifs of this exhibition and my work. Feel free to read whichever section you’d like :)
Exhibition Launch:
Here is a brief video of how the exhibition launch went: View here (or on my socials)
We had wonderful performances from artists Tyler, Ayo and Fran, and Oscar,, who hosted a Q&A with fellow artists.
Jenny Holzer:
Holzer’s exhibition was spread across two gallery rooms at the Attenborough Centre. Holzer is a renowned artist who ‘uses word and language in her work, culminating in the ‘Truisms’ series’. (Attenborough Arts Centre).
'Inflammatory Wall' by Jenny Holzer contains provocative statements that Holzer collected from various subjects, political statements (far-left and far-right), religious fanatics and folk literature. Named the ‘Inflammatory Wall’, Holzer uses these ‘Truisms’ to cause controversy. (Attenborough Arts Centre)
These statements do not reflect the ‘Truisms’ that Holzer believes herself but rather the ‘Truisms’ we see and experience every day, whether the listener (us) believes them or not.
As soon as you enter the exhibition, the vibrant colours immerse you in the exhibit. The vibrant colours are overwhelming, but at first glance, it suggests a joyous or lively scene; however, once you read the controversial and provocative statements on the paper, the contrast is overwhelming. Mentions of ‘pain’, ‘threats’ and ‘fear’ are written several times on the wall.
Despite being made in the 1970s and ’80s, I think it still reflects today's media industry. Information and statements from all sides of politics, religion and beliefs are being thrown at us as well as ‘pretty’, colourful and distracting images. I have experienced a distressing image and post on current events on my feed, which is followed by a cute viral video of a pygmy hippo (#MooDeng). It is so overwhelming and also concerning that this is still relevant today. The media outlets are so oversaturated that it’s hard to pinpoint what is factual, fiction and what you should believe. Similar to this exhibit, ‘Inflammatory Wall’, Holzer has taken statements from their contexts and strung them together, posing the question: are they someone’s ‘Truism’ or are they considered ‘extreme’ without the context?
'Blue Purple Tilt' - Jenny Holzer (2007): 7 Light Emitting Diode Columns
Based on her previous exhibition, ‘Truism’, and her ‘Inflammatory Essay’, ‘Blue Purple Tilt’ is composed of 7 LED columns displaying proactive statements, similar to the exhibit, ‘Inflammatory Wall’. Despite the columns being insanely bright, the texts are glitchy and often require a high level of concentration to follow and decode before moving off the LED screens, making this piece overwhelming and disorientating.
Like the exhibition before, it highlights the media culture today. Information is constantly being thrown at us, and it is up to us to decode and make sense of it, no matter how hard or disorientating it can be.
My work (Ideas and Concepts):
With the context of Holzer’s work explored our workshops at the Attenborough Centre demonstrated how we could make art based on our ‘Truisms’, whether that is provocative, controversial, or true.
I was allowed to try Blackout poetry, something I’ve never done before. So, I used the text included in Holzer’s work and created this piece.
It ended up being a really positive poem despite it containing the ‘Inflammatory’ Truisms, a constant in Holzer’s work. This contrast was particularly interesting because it became more than that, metaphorically it reflected how there are positives in the oversaturated media culture. It’s also about pin-picking certain ‘truths’ to fit you. For example, the word ‘start’ became ‘art’ as I blocked out the letters ‘s’ and ‘t’ and ‘singular’ became ‘sing’. It was really fun and effective to change something on its head like that.
With this newfound interest, we then had to describe what ‘Truisms’ meant to us personally. For me, it meant a phrase commonly said in our family. A phrase that we say all the time. Despite the obvious ‘Two birds with one stone’, ‘the grass is not always greener on the other side’, and ‘hitting the nail on the head’, I chose the phrase: ‘Whatever happens, will happen’, a statement that my mum always says in Gujarati.
From there, the statement changed to what else it could mean: ‘It will be okay, regardless of the outcome’, and then the phrase ‘It will be okay’ was formed.
I created this poem using the ‘A Gram of &’s’ format, where each line of the poem contains the word from the title. Our workshop coach, Owen, suggested that the text surrounding the phrase can be effective if it was the opposite of what you were saying; hence, my poem took a rather depressing yet expressive turn.
It feels overwhelming,
Like no hope will help,
Dark fills the tunnel behind,
Okay, maybe I should retreat’.
Usually, ‘A gram of &’s’ poem should contain the title phrase at the end of each sentence. However, for the visual aspect to be more organic, I wrote the title phrase embedded within the poem.
I then created this quick sketch in my notebook with the phrase ‘It will be okay’. I knew that would be my primary phrase, but also, literature, poetry and text are not necessarily my strongest points. I felt as though the poetry hit a dead-end. So, I converted it into the shape of a person (head). From there, it was easy to elevate the idea with the blackout poetry and to combine them all.
I did a few sketches first, though.
Similar to the blackout poetry, I changed the text on the blacked-out silhouette, which reads ‘I will be okay, maybe’ instead of ‘It will be okay’. I think this works out better in terms of the ‘Truisms’ because it shows that it is more personal to me, the reader, and the speaker (who is speaking these ‘Truisms’).
My work:
With this idea in mind, I then made them on a bigger scale. We then developed it further by saying that these two pieces go hand in hand so that they will be displayed back to back in the exhibition. By doing so, it had to be suspended in the centre of the exhibition.
For my own practice, this has been such a great experience to be a part of. Not only was I learning from the other talented poets, printmakers, and performers in the group, but I was also able to explore my passion for curation and how I can exhibit art in different ways (in this case, it would be suspension). I am so pleased with how the entire exhibition turned out, and I’m so glad I was a part of it.
This exhibition finishes on the 06th of October, 2024. So please see it if you can.
I hope to work with the centre again.
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