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Untitled

Cerith Wyn Evans

Date
2008
Medium
Fluorescent tubes, metal, wood
Dimension
550 x 53.3 x 53.3 cm Overall dimensions variable
Credit

TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Collection

This artwork is part of the donation and long-term loan from TBA21 to the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza.

Details

The classic structure and architectural quality of these four site-specific light sculptures evokes the columns of antique Greek temples. The series of light columns, constructed from house-hold fluorescent tubes, represents a kind of neo(n)-classicism if one will. Like a Las Vegas version of classically proportioned columns, these structures radiate so much light and heat, one can almost imagine them breathing. The overwhelming amount of light somehow erases any notion of space or time. Instead, one is immersed in a sort of ethereal environment that suggests a dreamlike state, an entry point into a new dimension, which emphasizes the narrative quality of our human condition. This is a characteristic of many works by Wyn Evans, who is also known for his transposing quotes and literary excerpts, by fiction writers, philosophers, artists or film makers, into Morse code, relayed by military searchlights or monumental chandeliers. As with literary or philosophical quotes, the artist also freely borrows from other artists, opening up a whole narrative and aesthetic new dimension.


(Text written by TBA21 and used as wall label in the exhibition "Passages. Travel is in Hyperspace", LABoral, Gijon, 2010)

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