Artist, Lawrence Weiner: I don’t want to fuck up somebody’s day on their way to work. I want to fuck up their whole life.
Narrator: That was the artist Lawrence Weiner, who is best known for making artworks rooted in language. This began when he witnessed the destruction of a sculptural installation he had been working on.
Lawrence Weiner: I could no longer use a medium that I happened to like a lot, which is painting and sculpture, because it was not fulfilling my needs.
Narrator: Though his sculpture was destroyed, he realized its idea remained intact when described through language. A few months later, Weiner created a series of written statements that could serve as stand-ins for his work, or as instructions for recreating them. This became known as his "Statement of Intent."
Lawrence Weiner: I give the institution who’s receiving the work of mine the choice that they can make it or have it fabricated. Or they don’t have to have it made at all. Just by the acceptance that because I said it is an art object, it becomes an art object. And if it’s relevant to them in the state that it’s not built, it’s just as good as if it’s built.
Narrator: This work in front of you is the product of one of these statements, which reads: a 36-inch by 36-inch removal to the lathing or support wall of plaster or wallboard from a wall.
As a physical intervention, Wiener's work reveals the structure behind these traditional gallery walls.
Lawrence Weiner: I began to realize that if I could determine sculpture by the use of language, it would allow itself to move from culture to culture. And the work has no metaphor. It leaves it open for people to use the work to suit their needs and their desires.