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Putting Truisms in Lights

Conceptual artist Jenny Holzer makes signs featuring original platitudes, which she displays in public places.

09:38
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Other segments from the episode on August 11, 1987

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, August 11, 1987: Interview with Martin Garbus; Commentary on Elvis Presley's country music influences; Interview with Jenny Holzer; Review of Bruce Duffy's novel "The…
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27:03

New Threats to Freedom of the Press

Lawyer and First Amendment expert Martin Garbus has a new book called Traitors and Heroes. He discusses the Lenny Bruce obscenity trials, the Reagan administration's effect on news coverage, and censorship issues abroad.

Interview
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06:23

Transforming Country to Rock and Roll

Rock historian Ed Ward looks back at Elvis Presley's early recording session, which show that the singer borrowed as much from white country music as he did from the blues.

Commentary
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03:25

Imagining Ludwig Wittgenstein

Bruce Duffy substantial debut novel is about the real-life philosopher, who wrote little about his own life. Book critic John Leonard says it's astonishing--and never reductive.

Review

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11:05

Conceptual Artist John Baldessari

Baldessari was a painter, but his recent work incorporates unusual materials like found photographs and video clips. His success has allowed him to resign from a long-running teaching position at CalArts.

Interview
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12:02

Avant-Garde Artist Chris Burden.

Artist Chris Burden. He gained fame as a conceptual artist in 1971 when he had a friend shoot him in the arm as part of a performance piece at a Santa Ana gallery. Burden's concern with realism (one critic calls it his greatest strength and greatest weakness) is reflected in a touring retrospective of his works, which include sculpture, and also artifacts of his conceptual pieces.

Interview
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27:59

Syd Mead Designs the Future

The conceptual artist developed the sets and visual style for science fiction movies like Blade Runner, Short Circuit, and Tron. NASA has also called on him to design Skylab. He joins Fresh Air to talk about how individuals and corporations conceive of the world to come.

Interview

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52:30

Daughter of Warhol star looks back on a bohemian childhood in the Chelsea Hotel

Alexandra Auder's mother, Viva, was one of Andy Warhol's muses. Growing up in Warhol's orbit meant Auder's childhood was an unusual one. For several years, Viva, Auder and Auder's younger half-sister, Gaby Hoffmann, lived in the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan. It was was famous for having been home to Leonard Cohen, Dylan Thomas, Virgil Thomson, and Bob Dylan, among others.

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43:04

This fake 'Jury Duty' really put James Marsden's improv chops on trial

In the series Jury Duty, a solar contractor named Ronald Gladden has agreed to participate in what he believes is a documentary about the experience of being a juror--but what Ronald doesn't know is that the whole thing is fake.

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