THE WRITING ON THE WALLS

Real politics and survival tactics for the next century— Jenny Holzer aims her verbal art at a global audience

WET PAINT

Artist Jenny Holzer is a compulsive aphorist, casting her two-edged messages broad across the urban landscape.

In 1977 Holzer first took her work to the streets, with small, neat posters plastered all over Manhattan. The primness of these signs was belied by their tough advice—for example, FEAR IS THE MOST ELEGANT WEAPON; YOUR

HANDS ARE NEVER MESSY. Several gallery exhibitions and museum shows later, Holzer has now launched the new "Survival Series," using aluminum plaques, computer-programmed light boards (like the one in Times Square), and silver stickers (she says they're ideal for public telephones).

Her subversive work sets Holzer apart from the mainstream of the art community; this is, in its way, real politics. She seems bent on saving us from ourselves; she employs commercial tactics, and often commercial space, for human ends. In the coming months she plans to run some survival messages past visitors to downtown Seattle and to a Chicago library. Eventually, she hopes to flash her advice in malls and other public spaces across America, Europe, and Japan. Some of the messages you may see: DANCE ON DOWN TO THE GOVERNMENT AND TELL THEM YOU'RE EAGER TO RULE BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU. PEOPLE SMELL TWO DEATHS: REGULAR AND NUCLEAR. DIE QUICK AND FAST WHEN THEY INTERROGATE YOU OR LIVE SO LONG THEY ARE ASHAMED TO HURT YOU ANYMORE. Not your ordinary public discourse.

APRIL BERNARD AND MIMI THOMPSON