Commissioned by the City of Melbourne as part of the 2008 Laneway Commissions
Melbourne, Australia
2200mm x 2200mm
neon light tubes, acrylic, vinyl, 24 hour programmed light sequence.
Installed 2008
De-Installed 2009
Installed 2008
De-Installed 2009
Proposal
At the proposed site of Manton lane off Little Lonsdale Street in a dead end L shaped lane, a light drawing will buzz, flicker and radiate an image of desire. Subverting the slick language of fluorescent lighting in advertising and the use of the UV black-light as a preventative for intravenous injecting.
Created out of horizontal visibly wired together fluorescent tubes wrapped in lighting gels, the image will represent a portrait in classical agony/ecstasy pose.
Clearly visible from Little Lonsdale Street the work will be seen both day and night, engaging the viewer with a sequence of programmed light pulses.
The light piece will be situated on the back wall of Goldfingers Men's Club and face windows belonging to a private law firm.
The laneway is chosen for it's artery-like architecture and relation to the night-club, strip-club and law-office precinct. The intended location provides a perfect viewing spot by way entry by lane into a dead-end dog leg and exit by way of the one metre gap between the law-office and strip-club buildings.
The Lonsdale end of King Street could be described as a little more 'clean cut' than further down King St, yet perhaps with the subversion of the imagery on the night-club wall, the artwork will be a reminder that we are all only one step away from a moment of agony or ecstasy.
A decade ago when blue neon lighting seemed to dominate Melbourne's prominent architecture another form of public lighting was happening in Melbourne's more hidden areas.
The UV black-light took over took over the public yet private spaces of Melbourne at the peak of what could be described as a heroin epidemic. Public toilets, back doorways and the cities laneways had a new hue. A blueish glow that changed the tone of one's skin, a novelty while applying lipstick in a public toilet mirror, it also prevented one from seeing and finding a vein. The UV lights highlighted the areas where moments of ecstasy and agony were to be had.
Melbourne's night-club area of King Street had also taken on a new light with the arrival of a plethora of 'girly bars'. The strobe of neon and ultra violet lighting shone light on female flesh, highlighting the age old art of the strip, yet still kept corners dim enough for the upmost of male discretion.
Billboards and bus shelters were also ablaze as the hum of fluorescents resonated the pulse of our desires to the tune of brightly lit advertising. The fluorescent light had become a subliminal part of the cities identity.
Melbourne was all a glow!
....and reflecting it's own light, creating it's own shadows, existing with it's own pulse is an artwork blinded by those bright lights of desire. Eros/Thanatos. Agony/Ecstasy.
Eddy Carroll and Phebe Parisia 2007
