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[Jenny Holzer: Writing & Difficulty]
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I have no idea whether I'll write again.
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One reason why I left it was because I tend
to write about the most ghastly subjects.
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So, it's not just the difficulty in having
something turn out right—
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it's the difficulty of staying with the material
long enough to complete it.
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It's necessary to be emotionally engaged when
writing about these topics,
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so, yes, it's exhausting at times.
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It's difficult to do the research on what
happened
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and what might still be happening to various
detainees;
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but I don't want to whine—
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it would be much harder to be a detainee.
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I'll leap away from the word 'values'.
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I'm afraid to talk about values these days,
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because usually, any time values are invoked,
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it's to dismiss—or maybe incarcerate—somebody.
[LAUGHS]
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But I would like there to be less fear and
less cruelty—
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I'll stand on that.
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And I'd like to think I have some plain old
empathy, too.
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I'm the opposite of the theater person, [LAUGHS]
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because I would never be on stage!
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My work might be like theater in that I hope
there's an audience.
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There's a reason I'm anonymous in my work.
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I like to be absolutely out of view and out
of earshot.