Writing on the Wall

In verse five of the Book of Daniel, it discussed the hand of God writing on the wall in King Belshazaar’s palace. Also in the history of Rome, the omnipresence of the legend SPQR and Lord Elgin’s plan for the Parthenon deal with inscriptions in art. These are prime examples of the use of text in art throughout history. Artists use text to inform the onlooker of the meaning or description of the piece and to invoke feelings, such as awe. This style was adopted powerfully by American architects and artists. During the late 1960s, a movement erupted in which landscapes were much less interesting than art with vocabulary from the streets, cinemas, and city. In 1991, artist Douglas Gordon began sending a series of Letters to various figures in the art world. This was only the beginning of his career as an artist most-known for his work with “writing on the wall” art. An article recently appeared in Sculpture Journal discussing the use of text in Gordon’s work. Gill Hedley, the author of this article, asserts that the use of text in different forms of art acknowledge the power and emotion of the piece.

Douglas is a native of Scotland, but currently resides and works in New York. Gordon’s work is in the fields of video, photography, and art, and through this, he addresses the universal dualities of life and death plus good and evil. Gordon attended the Slade School of Art, where he had his first degree show for which he painted a text in the rim of the aperture of the university library titled Meaning and Location. This text read, “Truly I say unto you, today, you will be with me in Paradise,” which is a passage from Luke’s gospel. The author argues that this piece is most powerful in the way it lays. The viewer must look up to see the circling painting, but then his gaze is directed beyond the aperture and into the library. The author believes Gordon chose to use a Biblical text because the library is one of philosophy, art, and science; therefore, using a text such as this illustrates the hundreds of different belief systems outlined in the books of the library. This is one of Gordon’s more classical pieces of art, but he also focused on other dualities by working with the more contemporary style.

One such contemporary piece was Gordon’s work Empire, which was commissioned for the Merchant City Civic Society in Glasgow. This work spells the word “EMPIRE” on a green neon sign with the letters outlined in white. The word is reflected in a strip of metal steel, so it reads in reverse. To the average person, this work may be viewing as nothing more than “street furniture;” however its outdated, American appearance and unlikeliness to be found on a Brunswick street raise new ideas. The author argues that it is a lament for a lost empire or possibly the loss of Glasgow’s Empire Theater. Obviously, this piece has many different interpretations.

Gordon has received much recognition for his art such as the Turner Prize, the Premio, and the Hugo Boss Prize. This author believes that Gordon’s art had made a great contribution to the field of public art. He asserts that by addressing various dualities, Gordon’s work provokes curiosity from extravagant landscapes to works with minute local details of a shared image of the contemporary world. The author refers to the great artist Douglas Gordon as “an heir to Pop Art.”

Gill Hedley, “Writing on the wall: the use of text in the work of Douglas Gordon, Simon Patterson and Langsland and Bell.” Sculpture Journal. Liverpool University Press: UK, 2004.