thoughts on seeing Jenny Holzer's Protect Protect

Protect me from what I want
All things are delicately interconnected
Ambition is just as dangerous as complacency

Silhouettes bask in the glow of these truths, lost in the challenges they present.

Being alone with yourself is increasingly unpopular
Being judgmental is a sign of life
Being sure of yourself makes you a fool
Chasing the new is dangerous to society
A charismatic leader is imperative
Life itself is not sacred
Romantic love was created to manipulate women
Spending too much time on self-improvement is anti-social
The most profound things are inexpressible
You are victim of the rules you live by
You have to hurt others to be extraordinary
A strong sense of duty imprisons you

The repetition of these words, the flashing stimulating the brain, bathing we here in the room in an other-worldly glow, our faces immobile yet ever-changing. We are transformed by the mere presence of these words - we need not read or believe them to change.

Emotional responses are as important as intellectual ones
Expiring for love is beautiful but stupid
If you can't leave your mark, give up
It's better to be lonely than to be with inferior people

The power of the word transforms all it touches - even when the words lose their meaning, what remains still has power. These flashing words stimulate, making couples want to express their love for one another, even when those words speak of the horror of rape. But for those of us with no outlet, we are left to scribble on the page.

Planning for the future is escapism
Sin is a means of social control

These words like rivers flowing, ever changing, their motion toward an unseen sea. If I step within them, they change and shift yet still remain the same. I no longer see the words but only their motion, the river but not the water.

This is what I imagine my unconscious looks like, a constant, unstoppable scroll of thoughts, desires, secrets, memories. But I lack the courage to display it to the world.

I am more moved by these phrases than the reality of what has happened in Iraq. Does this make me calloused? Or do I come to be challenged in a different way here? Everyday bureaucracy blown up larger than life makes me sad but does not change me. While it may be "the truth" about what has happened, it lacks the quality of Truth. Perhaps its that I do not need (want?) to be reminded how horrible war is for it seems obvious enough to anyone with a heart.
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