Luciola
PET bottles, colour, light bulbs, electrical cords, wire, steel
133 cm × 171 cm
“Luciola Firefly” was the title of a text I wanted to write, which was about loss and representation. I came across flashing Japanese fireflies, which symbolize the spirits of the recently deceased. The text turned out to be nothing in the end. When I was commissioned to make a chandelier for an exhibition, the fireflies came back to my mind while shaping plastic bottles. Luciola consists of five concentric circles, these metal rings are hung with deformed and painted PET bottles. The overall design quotes historical chandelier constructions of the nineteenth century and a Murano glass tradition. The plastic bottles are deformed into amphorae and their multitude and transparent texture suggests the supposed weight of a glass lustre. Are chandeliers in general a mantric evocation of conservative manufacturing traditions and representative display? Is it possible to undermine representation? Traditions and conservatism are supposed to provide support and yet, at the same time, they trigger oppression and embarrassment, even a feeling of hopelessness. The drunken, empty plastic bottles change their purpose, from rubbish to luxury, a “transfuge de classe”. The Empty and Discarded can glow.
Unter Flaschen – Die Fledermaus in der Bar du Bois
Heiligenkreuzerhof
Vienna 2020
