“Meeting point” is a boring old noun phrase that fails to capture the excitement of assigning a time to a place and trusting people to show up. Polish does no better, but the German Treffpunkt strikes me as perfect. You know what else is perfect? The spot in front of the entrance to Ujazdowski Castle—a bench-lined path in a leafy spot steps away from art, parks, swans, peacocks, restaurants, the city center, and a botanical garden. Not only does it tick all those Treffpunkt-y boxes—centrally located, easy to access from all directions, out of the way, suitable for a longer wait if required—but it also happens to be one of Warsaw’s most interesting and enduring contemporary art installations. The one drawback is traffic noise from the nearby expressway, but I hear some people don’t even mind that.
This permanent exhibit consists of ten marble benches featuring engraved text from American artist Jenny Holzer’s collections Truisms (1978–1983) and Survival (1983–1985). Each bench displays a total of ten sentences—six on top and one on each of the edges. Polish translations are across from the artist’s English originals and the two language versions alternate sides. The sentences range from provocative to banal and seem, as a whole, to contain something for every kind of person. And while many of the individual statements might seem glib or humorous, as a body of work the lines of text acquire an ominous quality, swelling with apparent contradiction and perhaps borrowing gravitas from the heavy stone slabs. Philosophical, political, conceptual, analytical, disorienting, and surely in part ironic, Holzer’s messages might inspire ideas, promote deep reflection, or ignite anger about the state of the world. Then again, sometimes all you want is a place to put down your bag. A monument that doubles as a bench, now there’s an idea.
Jenny Holzer was born in 1950 and began her career as an artist in 1977—the year I was born. In 1993 she exhibited work at the Ujazdowski Centre for Contemporary Art, but from what I’ve been able to ascertain, that was a show consisting entirely of text-based works on paper. A friend who works at Ujazdowski tells me the benches arrived in 1999—and were cleaned this year. As far as I know, they include the only Jenny Holzer benches in existence featuring her work in Polish translation, but by no means are they the only marble benches displaying Holzer’s texts. In fact, various versions of similar benches exist in museum courtyards and private collections worldwide.
Naturally I wouldn’t bring up Tinder if the situation didn’t require it, but it does, because if you’re a sensitive person like me, a first meeting with a potential sociopath who might have groomed you on a dating app is best scheduled outdoors, in a pleasant enough public space criss-crossed with convenient exit routes. Remarkably, road noise can help make things less weird. And if there happen to be some thought-provoking statements in plain view, you might find that your new acquaintance’s reactions speak volumes about the values this individual holds. Plus you’ll quickly know what this person does with an obvious opportunity to consider the unexpected. You might even be able to gauge your new pal’s capacity to tolerate diverging viewpoints—be it Holzer’s or yours (if they let you get a word in, that is).
I’ve appreciated this spot for a solid two decades and I can’t count how many times I’ve been a visitor. But the photos shown here are actually my first attempt to document this magnificent piece of Warsaw culture and history.
It was four in the afternoon on Saturday, August twenty-second. I had my camera with me and the person I was about to meet was running late. She was not a Tinder date—I’m most likely done with those apps—but it was going to be out first face-to-face meeting ever. The Treffpunkt felt perfect.