John Baldessari
dal 31/5/2011 al 25/6/2011
Segnalato da
31/5/2011
John Baldessari
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Your Name in Lights gives people the opportunity to experience a glittering 15 seconds of fame by having their names on a giant illuminated sign. Inspired by traditional markers of celebrity, such as the neon lights on Broadway and the marquees of Hollywood cinema, Baldessari's work offers spectators the opportunity for what he has called 'entry-level celebrity'.
The Stedelijk Museum, together with Holland Festival, proudly presents Your Name in
Lights, by renowned American artist John Baldessari from June 1 to 26. To be part of
this extraordinary work, people everywhere are invited to submit their names via
www.yournameinlights.nl whereupon they will appear on a large illuminated sign on
the Museumplein in Amsterdam. With this dynamic participatory artwork, everyone
will have an opportunity to experience his or her 15 seconds of fame. It is also
possible to register the names of friends and family, as a group.
Your Name in Lights playfully and provocatively reflects the fixation with celebrity in contemporary
culture and recalls Andy Warhol’s oft-quoted statement from 1968, “In the future, everyone will be
world-famous for 15 minutes.” "Warhol is so yesterday”, says John Baldessari, “be a celebrity for 15
seconds! Be a celebrity, a living legend and an idol. Experience the thrill of seeing your name in
lights!"
Inspired by traditional markers of celebrity, such as the neon lights on Broadway and the marquees of
Hollywood cinemas, John Baldessari’s work offers spectators from Amsterdam and all over the world
the opportunity for what he has called “entry-level celebrity.”
Each registered name will be illuminated for 15 seconds on the 30 meter-long L.E.D. sign that will be
on view twenty-four hours a day during the exhibition period on Amsterdam’s Museumplein. People
can register their names through www.yournameinlights.nl and will be informed in May when they can
see their names appear on the sign and through a live stream on the website.
Baldessari’s Your Name in Lights premiered as the 23 Kaldor Public Art Project in collaboration with
the 2011 Sydney Festival. Amsterdam is the second and only other planned location for the
presentation of the work.
John Baldessari is one of the most significant artists of our time. Throughout a remarkable career that
spans over five decades and includes painting, photography, sculpture, film, video, books and texts,
he has consistently explored the associative power of language. He continues to challenge the rules
and codes of mass-media culture and insightfully illuminates how meaning is produced through visual
and written language. A key figure associated with Conceptual art during the 1960s, Baldessari
remains one of the most influential and dynamic artists working today.
To participate in Your Name in Lights, please register online at www.yournameinlights.nl.
John Baldessari’s Your Name in Lights on the Museumplein is supported by the Amsterdam Fund for
the Arts.
For more information and images: Press Office, Stedelijk Museum, Annematt Ruseler and Marie-José
Raven, tel. +31 (0)20 – 573 26 56, pressoffice@stedelijk.nl.
For more information also see www.stedelijk.nl, www.hollandfestival.nl.
Opeing from 1 June 2011
The Stedelijk Museum
Paulus Potterstraat 13, Amsterdam
Opening hours: tuesday - sunday: 10 am - 5 pm
thursday: 10 pm, closed on mondays
Entrance fees
adults: €10