SPEECH ITSELF,
an art installation by Jenny Holzer.
From 8 to 10 pm on Wednesday, September 14, through Sunday, September 18, three Rockefeller Center buildings (30 Rockefeller Plaza and 610 and 620 Fifth Avenue) will be illuminated by artist Jenny Holzer.
The installation, SPEECH ITSELF, includes quotes from more than 60 authors in a visual tribute to the cherished freedoms to write, read, and speak. Projected words are those of Ayad Akhtar, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Margaret Atwood, Ron Chernow, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Joy Harjo, Jhumpa Lahiri, Yoon Ha Lee, Toni Morrison, and Alejandro Zambra.
Jenny Holzer is a neo-conceptual artist based in the village of Hoosick, New York.
Holzer’s work centers on delivering words and ideas in public spaces and large-scale installations. Her canvases are public billboards, buildings, and other large structures.
Holzer belongs to the feminist branch of artists that emerged around 1980 and she was an active member of the New York City artists’ group, Collaborative Projects, known as Colab. She was also a powerful contributor to The Times Square Show; the exhibition was a public forum for exchanging ideas, testing socially directed figurative work, and a stage for exploring emerging political-artistic directions.
Jenny Holzer’s website is here.
*Conceived as an acronym, PEN stood for Poets, Essayists, Novelists (later broadened to Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, Novelists). Over time, membership expanded to include a more diverse range of people involved with words and freedom of expression, so those categories no longer defined who could join. Today, the “PEN” in PEN America does not represent an acronym.”*PEN was conceived as an acronym: Poets, Essayists, Novelists (later broadened to Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, Novelists). As Membership expanded to include a more diverse range of people involved with words and freedom of expression, those categories no longer defined who could join. Today, the “PEN” in PEN America does not represent an acronym.
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible.
Founded in 1922, PEN America is the largest of the more than 100 centers worldwide comprising the PEN International network. PEN America works to ensure that people everywhere have the freedom to create literature, convey information and ideas, express their views and thoughts, and access the views, ideas, and literature of others.
PEN America, a registered 501(c)(3) organization, is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and chapters in seven other regions.
