YOU CAN'T HURT ME CAUSE STORMS CAN'T HURT THE SKY (2021) by John Giorno features a phrase engraved in the artist’s signature lettering into a carved stone. Part of Giorno’s Stone Sculptures series, the work transforms poetry into sculpture, bringing together the permanence of stone and the ephemerality of language.

The phrase originates in It Doesn't Get Any Better (2008), a poem in which Giorno intertwines vulnerability, humor, social critique, eroticism, and spiritual reflection: “It doesn’t get better / it doesn’t get better [...] If you don’t like my oceans don’t swim in my seas, / you can’t hurt me, / cause storms can’t hurt the sky […] and then, there is the illusion, / that makes life / bearable […] you will find your true love / in your mind, / when you die / you will find your true mind, / in the deepest night is the brightest light.”

Initiated in 2019, the Stone Sculptures extend Giorno’s lifelong exploration of the relationship between poetry and visual art. Engraved into found bluestone boulders, these “stone poems” juxtapose the permanence of stone with the ephemerality of spoken language. Reflecting the influence of Giorno’s Buddhist practice, the series distills language into concise, mantra-like statements that invite contemplation and repetition.