Notebooks 14/16 #3 [Warm White]

Artist Joseph Kosuth (American, born 1945)

Date1991

MediumNeon

ClassificationTime-Based Media

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

2019.69A-R

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Libbey Court

DescriptionWarm white neon

Label TextThe neon phrase “The way in which language signifies is mirrored in its use” asks us to stop and think a moment. What does it mean, and how might the words relate to their presentation as tubes of colored light? With the phrase, Toledo native Joseph Kosuth is quoting Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), whose writings have greatly influenced him. Wittgenstein wrote about the philosophy of language, exploring the relationship between concept and form/function. The relationship between concept and form is also at the heart of Kosuth’s work as an artist. One of the pioneers of Conceptual Art and Installation Art, his work has consistently explored the role of language and meaning within art. He began working with neon for language-based works in the 1960s, a medium to which he has returned throughout his long career. The installation was specially commissioned by the Toledo Museum of Art—a partnership with a key figure of 20th-century art who got his early artistic training in the Museum’s own classrooms.