Lawrence Weiner / Statements.

“Statements is divided into «General Statements» and «Specific Statements». The two sections reflect the transition from painting as a work process that is necessarily concentrated on a specific object to a linguistic representation of the use of materials in general. However this classification is not as distinct as would seem. Apart from a few precise measurements in the «specific statements», there is little that distinguishes them from the general ones, and since the dimensions are not delivered from specific givens but are purely arbitrary, they do not detract from the general applicability of the statements. (...) The statements are printed in blocks and the lines are broken at random, so that the division of the words is often unconventional. This lends the works an object-like appearance, not in the illustrative fashion of visual poetry, but rather in reference to the indipendent materiality of the written word...”. (Dieter Schwarz).