Lawrence Weiner
(b. 1942, New York, lives and works in New York)
Lawrence Weiner is one of the most iconic artists who contributed to a profound rethinking of artistic practice in the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout his works Weiner pursued inquiries into language and a redefinition of the artist/viewer relationship. Translating his investigations into linguistic structures and visual systems Weiner has produced books, films, videos, performances and audio works.
The core thinking of Weiner’s artistic approach is that art is a material reality between human beings and objects, and between sets of objects in relation to human beings. Weiner considers language to be a sculptural material and believes that a construction in language can function as sculpture as adequately as a fabricated object. For Weiner, a work is a proposition or statement. It is not confined to an existence, realized in a single form, place or time framework, but can be constructed in different contexts. As he describes in his own words from 1969:
“1. The artist may construct the work;
2. The work may be fabricated;
3. The work need not be built;
Each being equal and consistent with the intent of the artist the decision as to condition rests with the receiver upon the occasion of receivership.”
Lawrence Weiner is one of the most iconic artists who contributed to a profound rethinking of artistic practice in the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout his works Weiner pursued inquiries into language and a redefinition of the artist/viewer relationship. Translating his investigations into linguistic structures and visual systems Weiner has produced books, films, videos, performances and audio works.
The core thinking of Weiner’s artistic approach is that art is a material reality between human beings and objects, and between sets of objects in relation to human beings. Weiner considers language to be a sculptural material and believes that a construction in language can function as sculpture as adequately as a fabricated object. For Weiner, a work is a proposition or statement. It is not confined to an existence, realized in a single form, place or time framework, but can be constructed in different contexts. As he describes in his own words from 1969:
“1. The artist may construct the work;
2. The work may be fabricated;
3. The work need not be built;
Each being equal and consistent with the intent of the artist the decision as to condition rests with the receiver upon the occasion of receivership.”
