Cover Image Weiner L, Statement of Intent (1969)
Using text as a vehicle to make a statement that can be seen by anyone and everyone, the power of text makes it a useful tool to get ideas or feelings across in a simple way.
Read Lawrence Weiner, Statements (1968) Jeff Thompson [online].
What do you think was the intention of the artist to make work in this way? Consider carefully the material of text and the book as a container, to consider further the description, instruction and invitational qualities of the words used.
Research three more artists of your own choosing who use text and language in their work.
Make your own statement using a method you have devised from your research. Consider how this work might be presented to an audience.
Back when I was first reading about art, I remember reading a tomb like book about the Bauhaus. The students were given the task of drawing still life objects and then the tutor analysed their drawings against their personalities. Generally, each students drawing style represented their character. A whimsical light representation of the flowers, matched a quiet feline student. A heavy handed, block tonal drawing, embodied the strong masculine, and assertive nature of another. And it went on. Scatterbrained, clumsy, etc, etc….
This theory has stuck with me, and validates my interest in finding out about the person when researching the art. In some cases the artist is wanting to remove their nature and work with opposites, for what purpose is the the job of a psychologist. But some actualise their life and self within their work instinctively.
Weiner seems like quite a poetic soul inside a rough working class exterior. He worked manual jobs initially and those materials and systems seem to have filtrated into his art.
After an outdoor installation was damaged, for reason that it was obtrusive (basically, in the way), he evolved his ideas to not include anything physical at all. The theory being that he wanted to challenge the nature of art, as an object, removing physical substance. And provide an argument that the intention of art is as just as important as the object itself. The question being, is the construction of the art as critical as it’s existence?
It’s annoyingly clever when artists do this. You have to be the first one to think of it. Or at least have a very large gap between the last artist who adopted similar practices and switch up the manifesto a bit.
Because, it works. It makes you think again about art, and it’s effects, and ALL the other questions and conversations you can have. But it’s also super jammy. If you’re the artist you’re reducing your work load by a ton. Can you imagine the bar conversations with your contemporaries. They’re all struggling with self loathing because they hate their work, and they’ve run out of ‘Indian Yellow’ the most expensive paint in the store. And then there’s Lawrence, sipping his beer and commissioning his statements, having a lovely stress free evening. Genius
He backed it up though of course. Which is point 2 of this type of approach, you have to keep going. If it lasts a year and then you go back to actually making things, it looks phoney. But he kept on with his words. And he got better and better at it. (Bigger budgets).
In some ways he reminds me of JM Basquiat, collaging and deconstructing text for layered interest and awakened perspective.
His method in this early piece ‘Statements’ using a book format with basic presentation, removing as much personality as possible from the presentation, works as a means to firstly remove interpretation but then require imagination and mental construction from the receiver. The use of past tense makes it clear the event has happened so therefor more believable that there’s a piece of art in existence. In that respect the book acts like the gallery. The place for the art to ‘be’.
I found the statements intrusive in their nature. The acts of throwing paint at a wall, removing earth, putting a dye marker pen into the sea…..And for me that was amplified because they were short and direct. There was no explanation as to why the marker was to be in the sea. So it seemed quite cold, likes acts of initiation ceremonies or even vandalism.
Using text in this way traverses the art between genres. Sculptural, installation, 2D wall art if displayed so.
As the later work demonstrates, text can hold the same properties as other traditional art mediums concerning their visual value. Text can be broken apart and layered, manipulated, or used with tempo. Text is more than constructed words for common spoken or written use.
It has open my mind further to the possibilities that non traditional mediums for art can possess. And also removes the twee rendering of such elements. I often find the ‘straight’ delivery of video and text in art too obvious and, well, a bit Blah. When it’s messed about with, like in the case of Laure Provoust, composing her camera at belly height, removing her face, only showing hand gestures. With no addition of stage setting, just raw and a bit weird. It’s interesting and obscure.
When Basquiat deliberately misspelled words, or reimagined them. That slight dissociation appeared original and cool. Maybe cool is not academically credible, but in the grander scheme of things it’s what gets the admirable attention from your audience.
Make your own collection of statements using a method you have devised from your research. Consider how this work might be presented to an audience.
P6 provided extracts from Claire Bishop and Grant Kester, and certian statements resonated with me……..
Extract from Claire Bishop (title of the book)
“Theories take a route that consider social participation and how their platforms of interaction change as our way of interacting changes. Online resources being a large influence”.
“Social practice used to have a general local reach, and be rooted in personal relationships, but now with online presence it extends to a global network of dispersed communities and virtual relationships”.
Extract from Grant Kester (title of the book)
“The world is resource to be manipulated and transformed”.
I believe that the constant ingestion of imagery and media through the online platforms blurs the boundaries between ourselves and others. Connections made are topographical.
We manipulate and transform our environment without empathy for the milieu involved.
Language and expression is becoming diluted, and therefor our relationships mirror that.
Emojis are overtaking the use of language, and it is a topic without a conclusion. A global entity, that can’t be dismissed because there is a appetite for it.
I created a piece using the now famous text replacement, the Emoji. As a ironic statement I took a photo of a physical Emoji in a photogenic setting and made it the main subject.
Fig.1 Flockhart K, Statement (2025)
List of Images
Cover Image Weiner, L. (1969) Statement of Intent. [Language and the materials referred to] At:https://ocula.com/magazine/spotlights/lawrence-weiners-cross-generational-tribute/ (Accessed 26.06.2025).
Fig.1 Flockhart, K. (2025) Emoji. [Language and balloon] In possession of: The author: Volleges.
Bibliography
Blogs. (2022) Notes on Lawrence Weiner’s “Statements” 1968.At:https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/s1648283_contemporary-artistic-research-project-2021-2022sb5/2022/08/05/notes-on-lawrence-weiners-statements-1968/(Accessed 26.06.2025).
The Guggenheim Museum and Foundation. At:https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/lawrence-weiner (Accessed 26.06.20250.
ACCA Center for Contemporary Arts. Lawrence Weiner: A Pursuit Of Happiness ASAP. At:https://ucca.org.cn/en/exhibition/lawrence-weiner/(Accessed 26.06.2025).