Season 4 artist Jenny Holzer presents her second Washington D.C. xenon projection project (the first was in October 2004) starting September 13, when she projects quotes from President John F. Kennedy and President Theodore Roosevelt from the Kennedy Center outdoor terrace onto the Potomac River and Roosevelt Island, creating a virtual mirror.
The words of the late President, etched onto the east facade of the Kennedy Center state, “I see little more importance to the future of our country and of civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist. If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.” Organized by the independent curatorial project Street Scenes: Projects for DC, this event coincides with the Kennedy Center’s pre-season Prelude celebration.
Since the late 1970s, Jenny Holzer has consistently used language as her material and presented texts in a variety of formats. In 1996, she began using xenon projectors to cast text onto architectural and natural sites around the world. The flow of light and text over the shapes of buildings, land, and water transforms the night. Spaces appear to be enveloped, and what re-emphasizes the lines of architecture, or dictates a path in the reflection of a river, is the scrolling language.
Projections will be on view to the public from 6p.m. till 1a.m. from September 13-16. Read more about this project at https://www.streetscenesdc.com/Projections.html.
