Access a slow-looking exercise of this work.

Transcript
Narrator: "Truisms," from 2023, is a sculptural series by Jenny Holzer.  

Six low stone benches made of white Carrara marble rest on the floor. The benches are solid and sturdy, each weighing up to 800 pounds. Each seat is comprised of a single rectangular slab about three inches thick, about 4 1/2 feet long by about 2 feet wide. Supporting the seat are two legs, each a smaller rectangular slab about one foot high. The legs are placed at both ends, running perpendicular to the seat from front to back. The benches’ smooth and cool surfaces are speckled and veined with gray.  

Lines of text in capitalized, serif letters are engraved on the surface of each bench’s seat. Each bench contains thirteen lines of left-aligned text of various lengths. One bench, titled "Truisms: A positive attitude...," reads: 

"A POSITIVE ATTITUDE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD 
AMBITION IS JUST AS DANGEROUS AS COMPLACENCY 
CONFUSING YOURSELF IS A WAY TO STAY HONEST 
DREAMING WHILE AWAKE IS A FRIGHTENING CONTRADICTION 
EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE DESERVE SPECIAL CONCESSIONS 
HABITUAL CONTEMPT DOES NOT REFLECT A FINER SENSIBILITY 
IF YOU LIVE SIMPLY YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT 
IT IS IMPORTANT TO STAY CLEAN ON ALL LEVELS 
LACK OF CHARISMA CAN BE FATAL 
MONOMANIA IS A PREREQUISITE OF SUCCESS 
SACRIFICING YOURSELF FOR A BAD CAUSE IS NOT A MORAL ACT 
THE SUM OF YOUR ACTIONS DETERMINES WHAT YOU ARE 
WORDS TEND TO BE INADEQUATE"

The benches in this gallery are inscribed with selections from Holzer’s "Truisms" from 1977 to 1979, a series of more than 250 single-sentence declarations. Inspired in part by the writings of influential thinkers from Plato to Susan Sontag, many of which Holzer encountered via the reading list of the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program, the texts distill complex ideas into seemingly straightforward statements of fact that resemble familiar aphorisms, maxims, and clichés. 

In 1986 Holzer began working with stone, complementing the ephemeral and modern forms she was using, such as posters and electronic signs, with the historical resonance and endurance of granite and marble. Of her stoneworks, Holzer has said: “When words are carved in stone, they can be touched. . . . Marble and granite lock time while electronic signs and projections signal differently.”

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