Lawrence Weiner in His Own Words (1942–2021)
In celebration of the late conceptual artist, frieze revisits a conversation with Matthew Higgs in which Weiner answers 20 questions about his work and practice
In celebration of the late conceptual artist, frieze revisits a conversation with Matthew Higgs in which Weiner answers 20 questions about his work and practice
In 2003, Matthew Higgs – director and chief curator of White Columns in New York – spoke with the artist Lawrence Weiner at Frieze London. Weiner answers 20 questions (sourced from artists, curators, and writers who admire his work), ranging from the role of the artist in society to the importance of dreams to the political urgency of artmaking in the 21st century. ‘I wish it were possible to remove yourself from [public] situations, but I’m afraid it is not,’ he tells Higgs, in response to a question by the artist Liam Gillick. ‘The artist’s reality is absolutely nobody else’s reality. When they talk about so-called public art, we’re the public as well … You cannot remove yourself.’
In honour of Wiener, we return to the frieze archive to hear the artist in his own words.
Listen below
Main image: Lawrence Weiner at the opening of his exhibition 'Wherewithal – Was es braucht' at Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2016. Courtesy: © Getty Images; photograph: Johannes Simon.
