For an American audience unfamiliar with Jochen Gerz’s work, the traveling retrospective “People Speak” provided a good introduction, offering a wide selection of work from the past 27 years. The exhibition included both freestanding sculptures and wall works combining text and image; exhibited as well were examples of “interactive sculptures” (some produced in collaboration with Esther Shalev-Gerz), pieces either re-created, presented in the form of photographic documentation, or made accessible by computer.

Though formally diverse, Gerz’s works all seek to empower viewers, offering them the