Keith Sonnier: Sculpture Light Space
Susanne Ehrenfried, Wolfgang Jean Stock, Konrad Bitterli, Keith Sonnier, Wolfgang Häusler, Conrad Lienhardt (Editor), Wolfgang Hausler (Editor)
Publisher: Hatje Cantz Publishers
ISBN: 3775791248 DDC: 709 Edition: Paperback; 2003-07
Q: Is light art haptic?
corridor leading north, Munchener Ruck
p.38 "Onto the ceiling of the underground space, Keith Sonnier has aligned neon tubes in stripes of pure primary colours. Their intense hues subdivide the single sectors into imposing colour blends. A walk through the passage renders moods of alternating colour physically tangible."
"His neon installations combine a painter´s colouration with a sculptor´s form. He treats colour not as a flat plane, but as a volume, thereby allowing a close alliance with the architecture. He says himself that light has always offered him the possibility to create spaces within an already existing space." Susanne Ehrenfried
Compare stained glass windows "the luminosity of colour was first deliberately deployed in an architectural context. Church windows were the first example in the history of art in which a two dimensional depiction inter-penetrated the three-dimensional space with boundless light." p.39
"The fascination of neon lighting is based on the unusual, almost contradictory qualities of the material. Rigid glass, for one, can be formed during its manufacturing process into almost any shape. On the other hand, neon gas makes possible a countless variation in colour. The light gives the glass tubes the quality of an immaterial appearance, thereby dispelling the boundaries of its actual shape." p.39
"At the centre of Sonnier´s works, light stands as an object whose form is treated self-referentially. the concious delineation of the form allows no symbolic references; light oscillates between self-referentiality and abstraction." p.39
