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Jenny Holzer — Selections from Survival: You Are So Complex that You Don't Always Respond to Danger
Jenny Holzer

Selections from Survival: You Are So Complex that You Don't Always Respond to Danger

Carved into the smooth surface of a Danby Imperial white marble footstool, Jenny Holzer presents one of her signature aphoristic texts as both object and provocation. The stark contrast between the luxurious, timeless material and the unsettling psychological observation — "You Are So Complex That You Don't Always Respond to Danger" — forces the viewer to confront human vulnerability in an unexpected domestic form. By inscribing language onto a functional yet opulent object, Holzer transforms a mundane piece of furniture into a vehicle for existential inquiry.

Medium
Danby Imperial white marble footstool,
Location
Phillips, Salt Lake City, UT

🔨 Auction Lot

Evening & Day Editions

October 26, 2015

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About this work

Jenny Holzer, Selections from Survival: You Are So Complex that You Don't Always Respond to Danger

Carved into the smooth surface of a Danby Imperial white marble footstool, Jenny Holzer presents one of her signature aphoristic texts as both object and provocation. The stark contrast between the luxurious, timeless material and the unsettling psychological observation — "You Are So Complex That You Don't Always Respond to Danger" — forces the viewer to confront human vulnerability in an unexpected domestic form. By inscribing language onto a functional yet opulent object, Holzer transforms a mundane piece of furniture into a vehicle for existential inquiry.

Medium
Danby Imperial white marble footstool,
Seen at
Phillips, New York, London, Hong Kong

Related themes

Marble, Language as Art, American, Sculpture, Text Art, Conceptual Art, Political Commentary, Contemporary

More works by Jenny Holzer

Collected by

Alex Capecelatro, Art Institute of Chicago