Variable dimensions
Ledneon
*Disclaimer is a neon installation that deals with fear. It consists of two parts. More in the foreground is The End* written in graceful fairytale letters and placed a lot lower, but still within the field of view, the continuation of the neon can be seen. It is the corporate notice: *Disclaimer: this neon may contain misleading information.
The first part of the neon is bright red, signaling the end in the same font as the credits of some classic movie. The neon, no matter how fairytale-like, flashy and nostalgic the letters may be, reflects threat and danger and evokes doom and fear. But what ominous message does this neon convey? End literally means the place or time when something ends. Is an era or the world itself coming to an end?
In these times of local and global problems such as global warming, war, overpopulation,… there is a general fear of its indefinable consequences, an irrefutable fear that is ultimately related to the primal fear of death, nothingness, the end. Although fear is by definition about what is yet to come and is not yet a reality, that same fear plays an indispensable role in life as a motor and explanation of decisions and actions, mass movements, wars and revolutions. This neon aptly embodies the instrumentalisation of fear.
The second neon, the disclaimer, on the other hand, indicates that it may be fake news. Fake news is often fabricated messages with the aim of misleading people for political or commercial reasons.
The disclaimer gives an absurd, hopeful but at the same time poignant touch to this work by claiming that the information may be misleading. The two pieces of neon text collide here. Where The End shines romantically but at the same time ominously in alarming red, the second text part of the neon completely undermines this atmosphere. The world is on fire, but no one takes responsibility through a disclaimer. At the same time it is also poetic and hopeful because the disclaimer puts an end to the absolute end and turns it into the possibility of a cycle or sequel.
Do we still live happily ever after as we know it from childhood fairy tales and do we get a happy ending like in the classic movies? Time will tell.
2023
Aankoop stad Ronse, Oude Spoorweg Ronse
2023
2 miniature airplanes, motor
2023