For Everything

Etchells is constantly collecting language from around him: fragments overheard on the bus, in the street, in movies and in books. The phrase used in this work is taken from James Bridle’s book ‘New Dark Age’, which explores both the transparency of electronic networks and the possibilities for subterfuge they create. Situated in the gallery space, the words playfully enact themselves: with just every other letter illuminated, the phrase is disrupted, presenting initially as a random assortment of letters. It is only on closer inspection, when both the illuminated and unlit letters are visible, that the text comes into focus and a new layer of meaning is apparent.

At the planning stage of each new work, Etchells considers the transaction that takes place between the potential piece and its audience. For this project, he animates the public square and explores the implications of a work that is both seen and unseen. Occupying VITRINE’s window space ‘For Everything That is Seen’ is viewable 24-7, creating a dynamic relationship between the lit and unlit letters that change throughout the day.

Adjacent to and in a dialogue with the neon work, Etchells presents a series of photographs, titled 'From Behind',  taken during the protests that greeted U.S. President Donald Trump’s then recent visit to the UK. Taken from amidst the marching crowd, the images document the signs that protestors carried, but, rather than the fronts, we see the reverse sides of the placards, revealing the diverse arrangements and colours of crisscrossed tape that holds them together. Although some of these signs were clearly made in haste and others are neater and more efficient, all of them evidence the labour and improvisation undertaken by individual protestors in advance of the march. In contrast to the slogans of the front, which were made for presentation to an audience, the backs of these signs are less considered, and, like a theatrical stage set seen from behind, are primarily visible to those involved in the march itself.

In both  works, Etchells considers the relationship between the seen and the unseen. Documentation of the reversed protest signs reveals a procession of abstract drawings whilst in the neon, the language is playfully broken down so that only half is readily visible, a jumble of letters. In each case we become acutely aware of the mechanics of communication, and must draw closer to see the whole story.

Text, spoken and written, is at the heart of Etchells’ practice. The language he employs is playful and poetic, often using humour as a route to serious and somewhat unsettling subject matter. This new body of work is exhibited concurrently to Etchells’ sculpture commission ‘Everything is Lost’ for Frieze Sculpture 2018 in Regents Park (presented by VITRINE). ‘Everything is Lost’ also considers language at the point of its own disintegration. In this work too the letters act out their content, placed on a grid but in an unruly fashion, the text lies between the legible and the illegible, its message both obscured and revealed in the playful gesture of the work.