Public Art Registry
Gaslight
Photo: Rachel Topham
Gaslight - photo by Rachel Topham
Gaslight - photo by Rachel Topham
Gaslight - photo by Rachel Topham
Gaslight - photo by Rachel Topham
555 Hamilton Street
Del Mar Inn
Northeast roofline of the Del Mar Inn
Partnership
2020
White neon
Site-integrated work
In place
Privately owned
Light-based workText-based workDowntownWaterfront/Downtown Tour
Description of work

A neon artwork mounted on the roofline of the Del Mar Inn.

Commissioned by Fillip with the support of the City of Vancouver Public Art Program.

Artist statement

Gaslight is a neon sign with the word “gaslight” written in glowing block letters, circled by the outline of a flickering gas flame. The name is a pun on the nature of neon, as literally light made from gas.

The design of the sign was inspired by the title card for the 1940 film Gaslight. With the film’s success, the term "gaslighting" was adopted in psychology to refer to a form of abuse in which the victim is covertly manipulated into doubting their own memory, perception, judgement, and eventually their sanity. More recently this term has been used to describe the manipulation of an entire society through misinformation and destabilizing the concept of truth. 

In the current context fractured by a global public health pandemic, the inequalities of late capitalism, the violence of systemic racism, and a looming catastrophic climate crisis, the term "gaslighting" has re-emerged as a powerful signifier and imminent warning of the gap between perception and reality.

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