Truisms (1978)(cs.utexas.edu)
cs.utexas.edu
Truisms (1978)
https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~field/holzer/truisms.txt
45 comments
what artwork?
Jenny Holzer is an artist who’s work contains a lot of text and this text file is lifted from some of her work in the truisms series. It might actually be the entire text of the series.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=TRUISMS+(1978-1983)+JENNY+HOLZER
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=TRUISMS+(1978-1983)+JENNY+HOLZER
i was asking about OP's "another artwork"
A quick search on "artist Jenny Holzer" turns up plenty of results, including a comprehensive Wikipedia page, an Artsy page, and quite a few others. A quick look indicates that a fair amount of her work includes test based pieces, including this example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Holzer#/media/File:Jenny...
It appears the OP's quote was from "The Living Series"
Yes, it's from a work called "The Living Series", see here:
https://www.lofty.com/products/jenny-holzer-the-living-serie...
https://www.lofty.com/products/jenny-holzer-the-living-serie...
Maybe this is Holzer's point (or maybe it's humorous), but I've come to believe that that "luxury" is one of the most dangerous things there is.
The more indirect and the slower your feedback, the easier it is to form habits and get accustomed to believing in a "reality" which is anything but reality.
I used to feel like it was better to have this luxury because who wants consequences to be swift. Doesn't that feel harsh and uncomfortable? Yes, but now I realize it's better overall. At best delayed (or dulled) consequences are like procrastination: face it now, or face it later when it's harder. And at worst, it's a path to ruin because later might be too late.
Of course you don't want to go to the other extreme. There should be a balance.
The more indirect and the slower your feedback, the easier it is to form habits and get accustomed to believing in a "reality" which is anything but reality.
I used to feel like it was better to have this luxury because who wants consequences to be swift. Doesn't that feel harsh and uncomfortable? Yes, but now I realize it's better overall. At best delayed (or dulled) consequences are like procrastination: face it now, or face it later when it's harder. And at worst, it's a path to ruin because later might be too late.
Of course you don't want to go to the other extreme. There should be a balance.
The way I read it is as a somewhat ironic comment on how a lot of people, after doing something they shouldn't or avoiding something they should do, already know their mistake way before correcting it or suffering the consequences, and just don't act accordingly.
I'm not 100% sure on the "luxurious", but for me it reads as if saying "you know you've done wrong, you know it's going to come back to haunt you, but you're reveling in the inaction/avoidance in the meantime"
I'm not 100% sure on the "luxurious", but for me it reads as if saying "you know you've done wrong, you know it's going to come back to haunt you, but you're reveling in the inaction/avoidance in the meantime"
Seeing Jenny Holzer on here was a pleasant surprise!
Her more recent work Projections doesn't involve much of her own writing but it's interesting nonetheless (both the texts and the medium). She talks about it a bit in this video [2].
And I quite like her Redaction Paintings that were made from redacted military files [3].
[1] https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/holzer-inflammatory-ess...
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeOOFKzQxS0
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2Cidvahl6c
ABUSE OF POWER COMES AS NO SURPRISE
Her more recent work Projections doesn't involve much of her own writing but it's interesting nonetheless (both the texts and the medium). She talks about it a bit in this video [2].
And I quite like her Redaction Paintings that were made from redacted military files [3].
[1] https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/holzer-inflammatory-ess...
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeOOFKzQxS0
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2Cidvahl6c
DFW in IJ: "The clichéd directives are a lot more deep and hard to actually do. To try and live by instead of just say... So then at forty-six years or age I came here to live by clichés... One day at a time. Easy does it. First things first. Courage is fear that has said its prayers. Ask for help. Thy will not mine be done. It works if you work it. Grow or go. Keep coming back."
This doesn’t include a lot of post-1983 Truisms which are just as good. My favorite might be “Someone Wants To Cut A Hole In You And Fuck You Through It, Buddy”
Here's another list of them: https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~field/holzer/living.txt
Those seem more like musings than truisms.
I love how there’s contradictions, like how for “All good things come to those who wait” meets “Early bird catches the worm”.
I guess a good response to this is
> A SENSE OF TIMING IS THE MARK OF GENIUS
> A SENSE OF TIMING IS THE MARK OF GENIUS
[deleted]
CALM IS MORE CONDUCTIVE TO CREATIVITY THAN IS ANXIETY
Conductive or conducive?
Conductive or conducive?
I used to eat at her green table sometimes when I worked in the cafeteria right next door https://stuartcollection.ucsd.edu/artist/holzer.html
Some good couplets...
As corollaries for the hardest problem in computer science:
> A NAME MEANS A LOT JUST BY ITSELF
> SYMBOLS ARE MORE MEANINGFUL THAN THINGS THEMSELVES
As advice to myself because I love refactoring:
> ABSTRACTION IS A TYPE OF DECADENCE
> DECADENCE CAN BE AN END IN ITSELF
As corollaries for the hardest problem in computer science:
> A NAME MEANS A LOT JUST BY ITSELF
> SYMBOLS ARE MORE MEANINGFUL THAN THINGS THEMSELVES
As advice to myself because I love refactoring:
> ABSTRACTION IS A TYPE OF DECADENCE
> DECADENCE CAN BE AN END IN ITSELF
Noting the date and utexas.edu, I was expecting something from the EWD archive. After some mild disappointment, this did seem to actually feed my underlying desire for some curmudgeonly wisdom.
"ANY SURPLUS IS IMMORAL"
"AUTOMATION IS DEADLY"
... wait, what?
... wait, what?
Second one: A machine gun comes to mind.
Of course, I am not sure these are truisms.
Of course, I am not sure these are truisms.
The title of the work (or rather the title of her entire oeuvre in this style) is “Truisms”, but I don’t think that means they’re necessarily intended to literally be truisms. There’s a lot of humor and irony involved.
ANY SURPLUS IS IMMORAL
if you're operating efficiently, and generate or take only what you need, you aren't generating surplus.
surplus could be read as greed, decadence, or even waste
AUTOMATION IS DEADLY
do it yourself, retain the know-how yourself. self-sufficience. don't rely on externalities. natural processes are more, well, natural. machines tend to exploit and create imbalance.
if you're operating efficiently, and generate or take only what you need, you aren't generating surplus.
surplus could be read as greed, decadence, or even waste
AUTOMATION IS DEADLY
do it yourself, retain the know-how yourself. self-sufficience. don't rely on externalities. natural processes are more, well, natural. machines tend to exploit and create imbalance.
> surplus could be read as greed, decadence, or even waste
Or as a buffer. E.g., who knew that overcapacity in a hospital could be beneficial? So once more, the veracity of such statements depends on the context.
Or as a buffer. E.g., who knew that overcapacity in a hospital could be beneficial? So once more, the veracity of such statements depends on the context.
Your statement is 100% correct but misses the entire point
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22854475
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22854475
ALL HAIL THE DARK LORD OF THE TWIN MOONS
> YOU HAVE TO HURT OTHERS TO BE EXTRAORDINARY
I wonder what he meant by that.
I wonder what he meant by that.
I believe that the author is a she.
I presume it's an observation, not advice. That often those who are called exceptional have some skeletons in their closest. That there are more statues of Jefferson Davis than Harriet Tubman.
I read it as a warning. Life is full of tradeoffs, to be extraordinary in one area requires you to neglect or ignore other aspects of life. In the end people will be hurt.
What is the context/background of this artwork?
convertcase.net to the rescue.
Truism is a truism is a truism.
I dare you to top this.
I dare you to top this.
"The new disease came."
> truism: a statement that is obviously true and says nothing new or interesting.
Just scanning through these I wouldn't label all of them "truisms." For example,
> ANY SURPLUS IS IMMORAL
and
> AUTOMATION IS DEADLY
I wouldn't consider either of these "obviously true."
Just scanning through these I wouldn't label all of them "truisms." For example,
> ANY SURPLUS IS IMMORAL
and
> AUTOMATION IS DEADLY
I wouldn't consider either of these "obviously true."
It's a truism for whoever is obvious to :)
Just to be clear these are not really truisms. This is an art piece by Jenny Holzer and its name is "Truisms" (doesn't necessarily mean that they are all actual truisms, that's just the name she gave to this particular work).
In "Truisms" she created printed versions of an erudite reading list she compiled when she was a student. She distributed them anonymously by pasting printed versions around NYC's fences and walls. (https://www.sutori.com/story/pop-culture-and-art-jenny-holze...). She also did leaflets and other printed versions of this.
All of Holzer's art concepts are very much like this. Her goal is to use public venues as a medium to deliver thought-provoking ideas and display daring written commentary.
In "Truisms" she created printed versions of an erudite reading list she compiled when she was a student. She distributed them anonymously by pasting printed versions around NYC's fences and walls. (https://www.sutori.com/story/pop-culture-and-art-jenny-holze...). She also did leaflets and other printed versions of this.
All of Holzer's art concepts are very much like this. Her goal is to use public venues as a medium to deliver thought-provoking ideas and display daring written commentary.
She also created LED signs that cycled through these phrases.
Also for a more artistic rendition on the web:
https://mfx.dasburo.com/art/truisms.html
Also for a more artistic rendition on the web:
https://mfx.dasburo.com/art/truisms.html
Double checked to be sure that "KILL ALL HUMANS" is not among them
> There is a period when it is clear that you have gone wrong but you continue. Sometimes there is a luxurious amount of time before anything bad happens.