In this new neon work, Everything Up in the Air, Etchells plays between the literal meaning
of the phrase – installing it raised high, against the sky – whilst drawing on its metaphoric
usage to announce or celebrating a moment of uncertainty.

“Raising this text over a busy thoroughfare in the city I’m thinking about situations of
personal ambiguity as well as about the broader social and political uncertainties we face –
post pandemic, post Brexit to name two of them, as well as the climate crisis. In a sense I’m
also trying, by force of the language itself, to create a moment of uncertainty in the
experience of the city – a moment of suspension, in which things hang in the balance, as
they say”.

About Tim Etchells’ neon and LED works
Etchells’ neon and LED pieces often draw on his broader fascinations as an artist, writer and performance maker, exploring contradictory aspects of language – the speed, clarity and vividness with which it communicates narrative, image and ideas, and at the same time its amazing propensity to create a rich field of uncertainty and ambiguity.

Through simple phrases spelt out in neon, LED and other media, Etchells strives to create miniature narratives, moments of confusion, awkwardness, reflection and intimacy in public and gallery settings. Encountering the neon sign works, in the streets of a city or in the space of a white cube gallery, the viewer becomes implicated in a situation that’s not fully revealed, or a linguistic formulation that generates confusion or ambiguity. As often in Etchells’ work, in the neons the missing parts of the picture are as important as the elements that are present. Invoking a story, or projecting an idea out-of-context, the work invites us in, but into what exactly we can’t be sure.