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LAWRENCE WEINER. AUF DEN WIND GESCHRIEBEN - WRITTEN ON THE WIND
Essay from Eva Meyer-Hermann
IT ALL STARTS QUITE DIFFERENTLY. YOU THINK OF SOMETHING, YOU HAVE AN IDEA, YOU FORMULATE,
PLAN AND ORGANIZE AN EXHIBITION AND ONLY REALLY BECOME FULLY AWARE OF ITS CONTENTS AS PRESENTATION AND PUBLICATION
TAKE SHAPE. AND THEN, AS YOU FIND THE ARTIST'S WORK FAR EXCEEDS WHAT YOU HAD EVER IMAGINED, THINGS TAKE AN UNEXPECTEDLY
COMPLICATED TURN. YOU HAVE ALREADY WRITTEN A TEXT THAT ON THE FACE OF IT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING, PROVIDING AN ARTHISTORICAL
INTERPRETATION AND DIDACTIC POINTERS, AND ALL AT ONCE YOU HAVE TO ADMIT: IT JUST WON'T DO. WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?
YOU HAVE TRIED TO MAKE EVERYTHING CRYSTAL CLEAR, TO PUT THINGS IN A WAY THAT IS GENERALLY ACCESSIBLE AND THAT OPENS
UP A PATH INTO THE WORK ITSELF. BUT THERE IS A LACK OF QUESTIONS. WHEN YOU TRY TO SUM UP THE WORK LIKE THAT, WHAT
HAPPENS TO THE IMMENSE OPENNESS, INDETERMINACY AND PASSION OF LAWRENCE WEINER'S ART? AUF DEN WIND GESCHRIEBEN WRITTEN
ON THE WIND IS NOT JUST THE TITLE OF THE EXHIBITION BUT ALSO A WORK IN ITS OWN RIGHT. HOW LONG DOES AN ARTWORK
LAST? UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES DOES IT BECOME VISIBLE, WHERE DOES IT FIND A NICHE, AND WHAT THEN? HOW DO YOU GRASP
AN ARTWORK? HOW DOES IT DIE? HOW FIXED AND FINAL IS THIS STATE?
HISTORICAL VALIDATION AS A NECESSARY PREPARATORY INSTRUMENT PLAYS NO PART EITHER IN THIS EXHIBITION OR IN THE POSTER.
SEEN FROM THE OUTSIDE, AUF DEN WIND GESCHRIEBEN WRITTEN ON THE WIND IS AN OVERVIEW OF WEINER'S WORK, PAYING DUE
RESPECT TO AN ARTIST WHO HAS BEEN AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF ART FOR OVER THREE DECADES; SOMEONE WHO WAS ALREADY EXTENDING
THE CONCEPT OF SCULPTURE AND VIEWER IN THE SIXTIES, AND WHO HAS INFLUENCED A WHOLE GENERATION OF ARTISTS. YOU COULD
FILL PAGE AFTER PAGE WITH BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AND PUBLISH SHELFLOADS OF ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS. AND YET
YOU COULD NEVER ENCOMPASS THE FULL MEANING OF THE WORKS IN ILLUSTRATIONS OR REPRODUCTIONS. THEY ARE NOT SO MUCH
HISTORICAL FACTS AS MOMENTARY EXISTENCE. LAWRENCE WEINER'S MATERIAL IS LANGUAGE. LANGUAGE WITH ALL ITS INNATE CHARACTERISTICS.
SPOKEN OR READ IT IS FLEETING, PRINTED IT MAY LAST A LITTLE LONGER. BUT, MOST IMPORTANTLY, REPRODUCED COPIES CAN
BE DISSEMINATED IN THEIR HUNDREDS. LAWRENCE WEINER'S ART IS THERE TO BE READ, ANYONE CAN READ IT AND ANYONE CAN
UNDERSTAND IT. IN THE MOMENT OF READING VARIOUS POSSIBILITIES OPEN UP, HORIZONS WIDEN AND WORLDS UNFURL, THE WORK
ESTABLISHES ITS OWN CONTEXT AND METAPHORS AND YET NO MATTER HOW MULTIFARIOUS IT ALWAYS GOES BACK TO THE BASICS
OF ITS ECONOMIC AND MATERIAL MAKEUP, THAT IS, LANGUAGE IN THE FORM OF SENTENCE FRAGMENTS WITH PERFECTPARTICIPLE
CONSTRUCTIONS. THE WORK CAN BE EVERYTHING. LIKE IT IS OR DIFFERENT. IT CAN BE WRITTEN OR READ, IT CAN BE REALIZED,
OR IT CAN JUST REMAIN AN IDEA.
LANGUAGE REQUIRES A CARRIER IN ORDER TO MAKE ITS PRESENCE FELT. LANGUAGE MUST HAVE A SETTING IN ORDER TO ACQUIRE
MEANING. BUT THE CHOICE OF THE STAGE FOR ITS MISE EN SCÉNE, WHATEVER THAT MAY BE, IS NOT PART OF THE CONTENT
OF LAWRENCE WEINER'S WORKS. THERE ARE NO HIERARCHIES HERE OF DIFFERENT MEDIA NOR OF ORIGINAL AND REPRODUCTION.
A TEXT SKETCHED ONTO A WALL IS JUST AS GOOD AS A PRINTED POSTER, AN ACTED FILM, A WRITTEN BOOK, A SUNG RECORD.
LANGUAGE IS LIKE THE PLINTH FOR A SCULPTURE. IT CARRIES AND PRESENTS, IT IS MEANINGFUL, CAREFULLY CHOSEN FORM AND
YET THE CONTENT OF THE WORK STANDING ON IT GOES FAR BEYOND IT.
THE POSTER IS A CARRIER. IT IS A BASIS, A STRUCTURE, A HELPMATE FOR LANGUAGE. IT IS NOT THERE TO RELATE OR RECOUNT,
BUT TO INFORM FOR A SPECIFIC LENGTH OF TIME, OR TO CONVEY CONTENT. JUST LIKE AN EXHIBITION. AN EXHIBITION FULFILLS
THE SAME ROLE AND, FOR A LIMITED PERIOD, PROVIDES A STAGE FOR ART. BUT THE EXHIBITION AS AN EXHIBITION IS OF AS
LITTLE INTEREST HERE AS THE POSTER AS A POSTER. THEY MAY WELL BE EQUALLY SIGNIFICANT AS FAR AS THEIR RECEPTION
AND THEIR HISTORICAL ROOTS AND RELEVANCE ARE CONCERNED, BUT THESE ARE SECONDARY MATTERS NEITHER THE IMPULSE BEHIND
THEM NOR THEIR CONTENT. IN THEIR FUNCTION AS MODES OF PRESENTATION THE EXHIBITION AND THE POSTER ARE COMPARABLE.
IN NÜRNBERG THESE CARRIERS ARE INEXTRICABLY INTERTWINED: AN EXHIBITION OF POSTERS IS ANNOUNCED BY A POSTER,
WHICH IS IN TURN PART OF THAT SAME EXHIBITION.
THE KUNSTHALLE NÜRNBERG IS FILLED WITH LONG ROWS OF POSTERS. INDIVIDUAL WORKS ARE SUBSUMED IN THE WHOLE, ALTHOUGH
THEY DO EMERGE SINGLY LIKE MELODIC MOTIFS IN A CANON. THEN THE THEMES BUILD UP, DOUBLE EACH OTHER, CLARIFY AND
DISAPPEAR. DIFFERENT PAPER CARRIERS, PRINTED WITH ELEMENTS OF LANGUAGE AND FORM, TOUCH RELATED CHORDS. THE EXHIBITION
ROOMS ARE LIKE A WALKIN BOOK WHERE YOU CAN LEARN TO READ ART. THIS ART IS THE PRESENT, IT IS NOW, AND IT IS THERE
FOR EVERYONE WHO CAN READ. ON WALLS, ON POSTERS, IN SIMPLE SCRIPT, WITH A LOT OF TEXT, WITH LITTLE TEXT, WITH GRAPHIC
SIGNS, WITH NOTCHES, WITH ORIENTATIONPOINTS LIKE HORIZONS AND UPRIGHT LINES. WITH CLEAR COLORS, WITH SHIMMERING
LETTERS, WITH MODEST DESIGNS OR WITH LUXURIOUS FINISHES. NO ONE POSTER IS LIKE THE NEXT. JUST AS NO PLANT ON THIS
EARTH IS LIKE THE NEXT. NO THOUGHT, HOWEVER GRAND, CAN EVER CONCEIVE OF THE MULTIPLICITY OF CREATION. IT IS ONLY
IF PEOPLE HAVE A CAPACITY FOR PASSION, FOR IMAGINATION AND EMPATHY, THAT THEY MAY RECOGNIZE SOMETHING OF THIS MULTIPLICITY.
TOGETHER THE POSTER AND THE EXHIBITION IN NÜRNBERG PRESENT A BROADSIDE TO THE PUBLIC. A FLYER IS A PUBLIC
BROADSIDE AS WELL AS BEING THE OLD WORD FOR A BROADSHEET, THE ENGLISH WORD ‚BROADSIDE' HAS, OF COURSE, A WEALTH
OF NAUTICAL AND MILITARY CONNOTATIONS. TWO HUNDRED POSTERS, FROM 1965 UP UNTIL THE PRESENT, NOT ONLY CONSTITUTE
A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF PRINTED PAPER BUT, ABOVE ALL, A MASS OF CONTENT. CONTENT THAT MAKES A STRONG IMPRESSION
IN ITS HUGE AMOUNT, YET WHICH IS NEVERTHELESS SENSITIVE AND VULNERABLE IN ITS DETAIL. YOU CAN READ THE EXHIBITION
AS LANGUAGE OR YOU CAN PERCEIVE IT AS SCULPTURE: A SCULPTURE THAT FORMS OVER THE FRAMEWORK OF LANGUAGE AND WORDS.
IT CONSISTS OF WHAT THE WORDS SIGNIFY, YET ITS MEANING GOES BEYOND THOSE WORDS, STRIVING OUTWARDS, OUT INTO THE
WORLD. THIS EXHIBITION IS NOT BACKWARDLOOKING, NOT A SURVEY OF THINGS PAST AND GONE. IT IS NOT RETROSPECTIVE: INSTEAD
IT IS ACTIVE, FOR HAVING LAUNCHED A COMPELLING BROADSIDE ON VIEWERS WITH ITS SHEER MASS IT CHALLENGES THEM AND
ENTICES THEM OUT OF THEIR PASSIVE ROLE.
THE WORK IN THE LAST ROOM IS NOT PRINTED BUT USES THE GALLERY WALL AS ITS CARRIER. IN LARGE RED LETTERS, OUTLINED
IN GLEAMING BLACK IT READS: ROWS OF CABBAGES MARKED WITH RED INK AND BURIED TOMORROW REIHEN VON KOHL MARKIERT MIT
ROTER TINTE UND MORGEN VERGRABEN. IS THIS THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTIONS RAISED AT THE BEGINNING HERE? IS THIS AN
ANSWER TO AUF DEN WIND GESCHRIEBEN WRITTEN ON THE WIND? NO, BECAUSE THERE ISN'T ANY ANSWER. TO BE PRECISE, THE
TITLE IS NOT REALLY A QUESTION AT ALL. IT SIMPLY RAISES QUESTIONS, WHICH IN TURN PROVOKE MORE QUESTIONS. IT FLUTTERS
IN THE WIND LIKE A FLYER THAT SUDDENLY COMES TO REST ON THE GROUND, ONLY TO WAFT AWAY ON THE NEXT GUST OF WIND,
PERHAPS GETTING CAUGHT ON A WALL, A TREETRUNK, A CAR, POSSIBLY EVEN LEGIBLE IF THE PRINTED SIDE IS SHOWING. OR
POSSIBLY WITH ITS FACE PRESSED UP AGAINST WHATEVER IS BLOCKING ITS WAY. OR AS A POSTER PASTED ONTO A SURFACE INTENDED
FOR THIS PURPOSE. THEN YOU COULD READ THE WORDS ON IT. BUT FOR HOW LONG? PERHAPS IT WILL BARELY HAVE BEEN PUT UP
BEFORE IT IS COVERED OVER WITH THE NEXT POSTER? PERHAPS ONLY THE EDGES WILL NOW BE VISIBLE, OR WILL IT STILL BE
GRINNING THROUGH THE RATHER THIN, NEXT POSTER? WHO EVEN KNOWS IF IT WILL STAY THERE? IS THE WIND PERHAPS SO STRONG
OR THE PASTE SO POOR THAT THE PAPER WILL JUST TEAR OFF AGAIN AFTER A MOMENT? PERHAPS.
ROWS OF CABBAGES MARKED WITH RED INK AND BURIED TOMORROW REIHEN VON KOHL MARKIERT MIT ROTER TINTE UND MORGEN VERGRABEN
IS A SIMPLE STATEMENT, A DESCRIPTION OF A POSSIBLE SITUATION. IT HAS EVERYTHING: SUBSTANCE, MATERIAL, ACTION AND
DESTINATION. IS THIS POETRY? DOES IT REFER TO THINGS THE ARTIST HAS EXPERIENCED, TO A WORLD BEYOND AND BEFORE THESE
WORDS? TO SOMETHING SEEN OR TOLD? OR IS IT MORE LIKELY A COMPLETELY NEW CREATION? A VECTOR WHICH THE IDEA NEEDS
IN ORDER TO FIND ITS DIRECTION? IN FACT, THIS STATEMENT HAS NO PRECURSOR. PLACE, ACTION AND TIME BECOME ONE, TOGETHER
THEY BECOME A SCULPTURE. THEY ARE CREATION ITSELF, NOT AN IMAGE OF THE SAME. WHEN WE THINK, EVERY STATEMENT IS
SOON CONNECTED WITH A METAPHOR WHICH IS AS DEPENDENT ON OUR INDIVIDUAL DISPOSITION AS ON THE CONTEXT. THIS WORK
IS ADDRESSING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THINGS ARTISTIC AND HISTORY, IT IS TALKING ABOUT ART, ABOUT ITS DECLINE
AND POSSIBLE FAILURE. ROWS OF CABBAGES, BURIED TOMORROW. ABOUT A LIMITED SPAN OF TIME WHICH ONLY MANIFESTS ITSELF
IN HUMAN DOINGS. MARKED WITH RED INK. AND MORE. IS THE RED INK BLOOD? PERHAPS.
BUT THIS WORK ALSO FINDS ITS METAPHOR IN THE SPECIFIC CONTEXT IN TERMS OF SPACE AND CONTENT OF THE EXHIBITION IN
THE KUNSTHALLE NÜRNBERG. IT IS ENCLOSED IN THE LAST, SMALLEST ROOM AS THOUGH IN A BURIAL CHAMBER WITH NO WAY
OUT. FROM HERE YOU HAVE TO GO BACK THROUGH THE SIX ROOMS THAT YOU'VE ALREADY BEEN THROUGH, PAST THE POSTERS AGAIN.
BUT SOMETHING WILL HAVE CHANGED: EACH PLACARD IS A SIGN OF CONCEALED, BURIED EXPERIENCE AND MEMORIES, LAYING OUT
BEFORE US THE RICHES OF THIS WORLD AND SPEAKING OF IT WITH DEEP UNDERSTANDING. NOT AS A HISTORICAL FACT, BUT ALWAYS
INDIVIDUAL AND NEW TO EACH VISITOR IN THE MOMENT HE/SHE LOOKS AT IT AND TAKES IT IN.
WHAT IS AN ARTISTIC DEED? MARKING SOMETHING OUT IN THE WORLD, SHOWING IT OR TELLING IT? OR HAS IT LONG BEEN SIGNIFIED
FOR THE MOST MUNDANE OF REASONS? AN APPLE IS CALLED APPLE BECAUSE THE NAME 'APPLE' IS WRITTEN DOWN INSIDE THE APPLE.
A CABBAGE IS MARKED BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR SALE AT THE WHOLESALER'S. THINGS ARE BURIED UNDERGROUND BECAUSE
THEY HAVE NO FURTHER USE, BECAUSE THEY HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES. HOW LOUDLY AND VIGOROUSLY MUST SOMETHING BE DECLARED
IN ORDER TO BE HEARD? SHOW AND TELL CAN BE READ. THOUGHTS ARE FREE, BUT ONLY FREE INSOFAR AS THEY ARE FILLED WITH
THE SHOWN AND THE TOLD, OR WILL BE FILLED?
THESE POSTERS AND OTHER WORKS USE LANGUAGE AS BOTH THEIR MATERIAL AND THEIR FOUNDATION, THEY DO NOT EXIST FOR THE
SAKE OF LANGUAGE PER SE. JUST AS CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI NEVER TURNED HIS PREFERRED METHOD OF WORKING DIRECTLY WITH
HIS SCULPTOR'S BLOCK INTO A THEME OF HIS SCULPTURES. PLINTH AND SCULPTURE BECOME ONE. FORMS MAY BE CONTINUALLY
REPEATED IN A PERSON'S MIND. THE DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE ENDLESS COLUMN ARE AN ATTEMPT TO PERMEATE THE WORLD
WITH A FORM THAT IS IN PRINCIPLE INFINITELY REPEATABLE, COMPARABLE TO THE ROTATING DRUM OF A PRINTING PRESS WHICH
REPRODUCES THE SAME TEXT TIME AFTER TIME. BUT, HERE AGAIN, NEITHER THE SCULPTURAL NOR THE TECHNICAL FORM IS THE
POINT OF THE ARTWORK, WHICH IS IN FACT CONCENTRATED IN THE CONTENT CONVEYED BY THE LATTER. LANGUAGE, AS A MATERIAL,
CAN BE JUST AS EXACT AS A PLINTH CARVED ACCORDING TO A BASIC STEREOMETRIC FORM. AT THE SAME TIME
FOR ALL ITS PRECISION, HARDNESS AND ECONOMY IT CAN LINK WITH THE SURROUNDING SPACE AS INDETERMINATELY AND IMMATERIALLY
AS ANY HIGHLY POLISHED, REFLECTING MARBLE OR BRASS SHAPE. THE WORDS ARE THE PLINTH, WHILE THE WORK ITSELF IS LIKE
A BIRD IN SPACE, FLYING RAPIDLY THROUGH
IT, APPARENTLY SOLID YET FUGITIVE. CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI USED MATERIALS IN ORDER TO OVERCOME THEM AND TO PRESENT
A FORM OF COSMIC HARMONY; LAWRENCE WEINER USES HIS IN ORDER TO EXTRACT MOMENTS FROM THIS CONCORD, TO CREATE HIS
OWN NATURE, TO MAKE SOMETHING USABLE; AND BY MEANS OF THE NOTION OF POTENTIALLY CREATING ANEW, TO GIVE EACH PERSON
A SENSE OF SELFDETERMINATION AND RESPONSIBILITY. AT LEAST IN THE FREE REALM OF ART. IT IS LIKE THE IMPOSSIBLE ATTEMPT
TO WRITE ON THE WIND. TO HOLD CAPTIVE SOMETHING OF THE WORLD FOR A SHORT TIME, KNOWING ONLY TOO WELL THAT IT WILL
RAPIDLY DISAPPEAR AGAIN, AND IS ONLY THERE FOR THE MOMENT OF ITS NAMING. IS IT SIGNIFICANT AS A PART OF LIFE OR
WILL IT ALWAYS BE ART? IDEAL FORMS, IDEAL METAPHORS AND UNAMBIGUOUS STATEMENTS JUST DON'T EXIST. ONLY THE QUESTIONS
REMAIN. THE IMPERSONAL FORM OF THESE WORKS NONIMPERIOUS AND OF NO FIXED ABODE, LOCATED SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE PAST
AND THE FUTURE IS INTRINSICALLY DEPENDENT ON WHO (IN WHICH SETTING AND WITH WHAT IMAGINATIVE RESOURCES) RESPONDS
TO THEM, READS, ACTIVATES AND USES THEM: BE IT ON THE WALLS OF HOUSES IN THE BRONX, IN GALLERY SPACES, IN BOOKS,
FILMS OR MUSIC OR ON A POSTER IN NÜRNBERG.
EVA MEYERHERMANN. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY FIONA ELLIOTT.
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LAWRENCE WEINER