One of the pioneers of post-minimal conceptual art, Lawrence Weiner (1942- ) is best known for his influential language-based work, especially his wall installations that treat words and phrases as a sculptural and architectural medium. Weiner's strategic installations of vivid phrases across gallery, museum or public spaces point towards the dematerialization of art, deliberately challenging habitual assumptions about the experience, permanence and market value assigned to art. Long celebrated in Europe, Weiner was finally given a major and critically acclaimed forty-year retrospective at the Whitney Museum in 2007.

In addition to his language sculptures, Weiner has long been interested in film and since the early 1970s has created a substantial body of intensely stylized and experimental films that question the artistic limits and possibilities of the cinema. Alternately quirky and deadly serious, Weiner's rarely screened films offer a fascinating compliment to his installation work by exploring language and performance as modes of time-based sculptural practice.

This program is presented together with the List Visual Art Center, MIT and in coordination with the installation of Lawrence Weiner's new sculpture on MIT's campus. We are pleased that Lawrence Weiner will join us to discuss his unique work and approach to cinema.