I wanted badly to steal a photo of Jenny Holzer’s “For Chicago” from the elevator at the Whitney, but I was too slow. Earlier the guard noted that “the poem never finishes” and suggested that Holzer should visit Dr. Phil.

I found myself barely reading the words in most of the LED pieces in Protect Protect. In some ways I agreed with the poetry designation, if only because on the rare occasions that I read poetry, I go quickly and don’t analyze much. Here, the words themselves go quickly, not giving you much time for analysis. Sometimes the lines overlap or reverse out in a way that makes it seem purposefully difficult to read very much.

The overall spareness of the show helped make this feeling manageable. And I love how the walls glow where the letters flow in and out.