Barbara Kruger

THE POWER OF ADVERTISING PART II

What do you see? What do you notice? What does this mean? Is this advertising?

What do you see? What do you notice? What does this mean?

Is this advertising?

What do you see? What do you notice? What does this mean? Is this advertising?

All of these images were created by an artist named Jenny Holzer. They are a part of a series called Truisims.

What is a truism? A claim that is so obvious or self-evident as to hardly be worth mentioning, except as a reminder. It can also be a saying about people or an accepted truth about life in general.

About the Artist: Whether questioning consumer impulses, coldly describing torture or lamenting death and disease, Jenny Holzer’s use of language provokes a critical response in the viewer. While her work often blends in among advertisements in public space, its arresting content violates expectations. Her text has appeared on posters, as electronic LED signs and as projections.

"Truisms” 1977–79 T-shirt worn by Lady Pink, New York,1983.Text:

Jenny Holzer

"Truisms"1977– 79Spectacolor electronic sign. Times Square, New York, 1986.

Jenny Holzer Truisms"19771979Spectacolor electronic sign, Times Square, New York, 1982.

Examples of other Holzer’s TRUISMS A little knowledge can go a long way Action causes more trouble than thought Humor is a release Knowing yourself lets you understand others Revolution begins with changes in the individual Selflessness is the highest achievement

"NHI: No Humans Involved" was a mulitdiciplinary project addressing the low priority given to the investigation of the serial murder of 45 women in San Diego.The projecct included two billboards, a temporary storefront gallery, a book written by the aritsts, a performance and a panel discussion. (1992)Deborah Small Artists: Elizabeth Sisco Carla Kirkwood Scott Kessler Louis Hock

What do you see? What do you notice? What does this mean? Is this advertising?

What do you see? What do you notice? What does this mean? Is this advertising?

Barbara Kruger's Your Body is a Battleground (1989) is a political poster in support of a 1973 decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in Roe v. Wade, a ruling that formed the basis for legalized abortion in the United States. The poster was used to promote a march on Washington opposing the Bush administration's attempts to overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling in April of 1989. In this poster, a woman’s face, divided into a photographic positive and its negative, stares directly at the viewer. Superimposed on this image is the text “Your Body is a Battleground,” a political slogan previously used by Vietnam War protesters during the late 1960s

.

What do you see? What do you notice? What does this mean? Is this advertising?

Kruger's experiments with text- and photo-based collage have become iconic, with their black-and-white photos, red backgrounds and futura-bold-italic font. This image, an apparent indictment of consumerism, was used by Bloomingdale's for tote bags and t-shirts.

Barbara Kruger is a conceptual artist and former graphic designer based out of New York and Los Angeles. Throughout much of her work, Kruger utilizes a graphic design style that confuses the boundaries between art and marketing a technique which helps draw attention to the role of advertising in public debate. Kruger has developed a reputation for making provocative commentaries on religion, sexuality, racial and gender stereotypes, consumerism, corporate greed, and power. In their trademark black letters against a slash of red background, some of her instantly recognizable slogans read “I shop therefore I am,” and “Your body is a battleground." Throughout her morethan-30-year career, she has scrutinized not only how we behave, but how we appear to behave, to one another.

"I try to make work about we are to one another,"

“I try to deal with the complexities of power and social life, but as far as the visual presentation goes I purposely avoid a high degree of difficulty.” – Barbara Kruger how

I think that all sorts of art activities, whether written, played, or visualized, are attempts to send messages from one person to another. I don’t think of it as news, but rather as a kind of condensed communication conveyed with a deep and startling economy." Barbara Kruger

OUR CHALLENGE: Thinking about the power of text and image, we are going to be creating a second advertisement based on Kruger’s style of work. We will be combining our own original black and white photo with text that promotes a message of concern in our lives/society. You will have to think about the “Truths” in your own lives and construct an effective poster that conveys your given message.

Student Examples