For Alum Jenny Holzer, the Personal Is Always Political

YOU BE MY ALLY, 2020, Augmented reality app. Texts © 1998 by Anne Carson, © 1952 by Éditions du Seuil, © 2008 by Richard Philcox, © 1998 by Antjie Krog. Reprinted by permissions of the authors, Aragi Inc., Grove/Atlantic, Inc. and Penguin Random House South Africa. © 2020 Jenny Holzer, member Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

by Max Witynski

For University of Chicago student Zahra Nasser, this October marks the culmination of months of hard work—and the chance to see it shared not only on campus but around the world.

A fourth-year College undergraduate studying art history and philosophy, Nasser is one of ten current and former students involved in YOU BE MY ALLY, a groundbreaking public art commission from acclaimed artist and alum Jenny Holzer, EX’74.

The artwork uses both a web-based augmented reality app and LED trucks to share texts from UChicago’s multidisciplinary Core curriculum and nonpartisan get-out-the-vote messages created in partnership with UChicago’s Institute of Politics.

While the project draws material from the Core curriculum—the common academic foundation for College students—the public nature of the artwork also means its content can transcend the University.

“Part of the beauty of the project is that it challenges us to reevaluate these works in a public context,” said Nasser. “It’s different seeing the words projected on a building instead of inside a book.”

Read the full article from UChicago News.