Evening

Symbols of luxury, fantasy, and grandeur, the altered chandeliers of Cerith Wyn Evans create a theatrical sense of occasion. Evening consists of a traditional chandelier made by the well-known Muranese manufacturer Galliano Ferro. A computer program causes the chandelier’s lights to flash in Morse code, spelling out on the video monitor the text of the 1916 poem “Evening” by Hilda Doolittle (American, 1886–1961), better known by her initials, “H.D.” Doolittle’s poem describes the silent, slow fall of night. Thus, the sculpture is a light source and a commentary on light that is communicated with light. Wyn Evans is a conceptual artist who was born in Wales and now lives and works in London. He began his career as a maker of videos and films, later shifting his focus to sculpture and installation art. He combines and re-presents recognizable objects, texts, and images to create multiple new, open-ended meanings. Most of his work draws upon his interest in language, perception, and communication; and his sculptures and installations are often developed from the context of their exhibition sites or history. This sculpture has had several titles since it was first made in 2008 because Wyn Evans changes the titles to make his chandeliers— and their messages—site-specific. For the Museum, he chose a text in English by an American poet. Evening was first exhibited in Spain in 2008, when it was titled Luces de Bohemia (Bohemian lights), using a Spanish text by Ramón María del Valle-Inclán (1866–1936). The sculpture was subsequently exhibited in France in 2013 as L’Erotisme (Eroticism), using a French text by Georges Bataille (1897–1962). Unsigned. Unpublished. For more information on the artist, see Hans Ulrich Obrist and Cerith Wyn Evans, Hans Ulrich Obrist & Cerith Wyn Evans, The Conversation Series, Book 24, Cologne: Walther König, 2011; and Cerith Wyn Evans: In Which Something Happens All Over Again for the Very First Time, Paris: Paris Musées, and Munich: Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau, 2006.