12 MONTHS OF NEON LOVE
Victoria Lucas and Richard William Wheater
12 Months of Neon Love was a collaboration between Victoria Lucas and Richard William Wheater, beginning on St Valentine's day 2011, and ending on Valentine's Day 2012. The project was formed using a sequence of twelve lyrical statements, borrowed from well-known songs that feature the many configurations of love. Presented over a year in large red neon text, twelve expressions were visually re-presented to an unsuspecting audience going about their everyday lives, on the roof of Neon Workshops in Wakefield.
The project was specifically born out of a romantic relationship between two artists; one passionate about neon (Wheater), the other passionate about the subject of time (Lucas). Together they created a year long public artwork that celebrated the many configurations of love, including expressions of intimacy, adoration and heartbreak, using the medium of light with its time-based properties.
“We initially began to think about the train line, and how the location of the workshop sat in perfect alignment with passing commuters. We realized that if the neon sign was big enough, we could build a roof top platform to communicate with passers by, visually shouting from the roof tops of Wakefield; a human heart felt voice burning above the industrial setting of warehouses. We thought this subject matter would be something that everyone could identify with.” – Wheater
Neon is a noble gas that is lighter than air, existing in small quantities as part of the Earth’s atmosphere. Mixed with the oxygen that we breathe, neon fills our lungs and then dissipates as we breath out, as we speak, as we sing. As the electrified Neon is emblazoned as art, Neon silently passes through our bodies. There is something beautiful about the fact that the neon trapped inside glass tubes spelling out the lyrics, is the very same gas that is released as we sing them. Without electricity, the neon gas is colourless, odourless, and seemingly lifeless in comparison.
Lyrics allow us to explore the world and ourselves through the sentiments of another. Love in particular is an emotion so complex it is often difficult to define, and love songs provide a way to articulate the emotional intangibility that the feeling evokes. These poetic interpretations of rapture bestow a rare euphoric sensation that is evocative and poignant for those in love; whilst some love songs strive to make sense of the agonies provoked by unrequited love, lost love and abandonment.
By touching on something universal, the work strives to initiate a thought or memory in the viewer concerning their own experiences of love; as well as providing a heartfelt sentiment for them to take with them on their journey. The audience are invited to emotionally connect to each statement, presenting a collective experience to be enjoyed as part of the everyday. In this sense, the work becomes performative, forming a series of moments where couples stop to kiss under the red glow, or viewers from the train smile to themselves on the way home as they remember the tune.
As the fleeting expressions of love changed month by month, so too did the relationship that conceived them. On the eighth month of the project the personal journey between the collaborating artists dynamically shifted, their own failing relationship becoming as much a part of the artwork as the neon that blazes on the roof top. Lyrics such as Joy Division’s Love, Love will Tear Us Apart Again echoed the real events occurring closer to home. Thus 12 Months of Neon Love is as much about the pain that all lovers endure as it is the euphoric rapture the feeling of love can bestow.
“I think the fact that we have experienced the full spectrum of feelings associated with love during the projects short life span is so important, and for me has become the main concept driving the work. The work was conceived out of our love, which now only exists in our memories. The transitory nature of the project and its temporal existence echoes this; a year long artwork representing a year long love affair.” – Lucas
The ephemeral nature of the project, in relation to it’s temporal existence, echoes the feeling of love that lives between two people. Whether in love for a few months, a year, or a life time, love has it’s limitations and does not last forever. When the power was turned off and the neon lights went out, the work exists in only the photographs captured and the fading memory of the people who experienced it.
For more information visit www.12monthsofneonlove.blog.com