For more than 40 years, Jenny Holzer has realized text-based installations that present socially critical ideas, arguments, and observations in public spaces and exhibitions. Since the early 1990s, she has increasingly used text written by others to continue her investigation of language and its effects on society. SUCH WORDS is a sculptural installation produced in 2017 for her solo exhibition ‘SOFTER’ at Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, United Kingdom. Seven curved Nero Portoro marble benches hold court in a spacious circle. Each bench is engraved with excerpts from the English translation of Building the Barricade, a collection of poems by Anna Świrszczyńska. First published in the 1970s, the poems describe Świrszczyńska’s memories of survival in Warsaw during World War II. The use of marble memorializes the poet’s words and attests to the enduring power of her language. Holzer presents the stark and elegiac first-person narrative as a poignant reflection on the 20th century, as well as a cautionary tale for modern times.
