All the light you see

The travel time varies from, for example, eight minutes for the light from the sun to reach the earth, to millions of years from a star at the edge of our universe. This means that the information that light brings us, like how long ago that distant star was born, is always dated.

Exactly that is the focus of Alicia Eggert’s artwork 'All the Light You See'. As in many of her works, Eggert uses a poetic statement written in light that changes meaning with a small intervention. Part of the text in ‘All the Light You See is From the Past’ occasionally switches off, making her message even simpler, ‘All You See is Past’. 'All the Light You See' is therefore a memento mori (Latin for ‘reflection on mortality’), an artwork that reminds us that in a short while, we too will belong to the past.

This work draws your attention much like neon signs, which were popular between the 1920s and 1960s (think of the billboards in Las Vegas). But Eggert doesn’t use it to sell a product or a service. She hopes to make you aware of the enormous amount of light that bombards you from all angles and overloads you with information. And this information continues to change, just like the location of the artwork, near Amsterdam’s train station.