The Lonely Palette Ep. 68 – Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ Untitled (March 5th) #2
In this podcast episode of The Lonely Palette it discussed the life of Felix Gonzalez-Torres — a gay man who lived during the AIDS epidemic. If you’re unsure of what that is, the AIDS epidemic was a time in the late 1900’s where HIV/AIDS was on the rise and was transferred more easily through anal sex. Since this is the main way gay men would have intercourse, most people proceeded to blame gay men for this problem rather than focusing on the actual cause of this outbreak.
Felix Gonzalez-Torres made several artworks depicting his feelings during this epidemic, but this episode focused on his artwork ‘Untitled (March 5th) #2. This artwork is a small installation of two light bulbs hanging from wire that’s wrapped around the base and falls to the floor. The two light bulbs are hanging together, their bases touching. This artwork is meant to showcase the everlasting bond of lovers. Along with this, it was made to show how gay men’s lives seemed like replaceable lightbulbs to the outside community.
In this podcast an individual named Richard was taking their turn to turn on the installation for the day. Surprisingly, when he tried to turn it on one of the bulbs had burnt out. This ended up happening on a Monday, the only day this museum was open to the public, so everyone got to experience a different installation than usual. Along with this, Richard mentioned how ironic it was that they got to witness the bulb burning out first as he is also a gay man that got their HIV diagnosis that same day 9 years ago. After this bulb burnt out, the artist wanted it to be replaced so the artwork could be restored back to what it originally looked like. For me, this was a strange choice.
In order for me to talk about why this choice was so strange, I need to discuss my own thoughts and analysis on the artwork. To me, this piece showcases an everlasting love. No matter what happens, no matter how tangled the wires may be, these light bulbs will always be together in some way. If any one of them breaks, the other bulb will be scarred and the piece will look unfinished. To me, that’s how it feels to lose someone you love. Despite how long you may remain after your lover disappears, you’re always scarred and incomplete. There’s always going to be something off about you, even if you’re beautiful and strong on your own.
The way the wires tangle up with each other in order for the bulbs to touch each other feels reminiscent of how your life will always be entangled with the ones you love. The way you wrap around each other throughout your life will always bring you closer. This can also represent the struggles and turbulence you go through with your relationships and how, even that, brings you closer to them. Overall, the feelings of this piece are love and connection.
With this in mind, I have some criticisms about the light bulb being changed once it burnt out. One of the beginning themes in this podcast was talking about how the only constant in life is change. In my opinion, the bulb burning out was an excellent showing of this change. Along with this, I believe that the bulb should have burnt out as a symbol for the loss of love and moving forward.
This piece was created to symbolize the way love would shine throughout anything, but I feel like this piece has the unique qualities to be able to change as time goes on. It would be a fascinating sight to grow up with this piece as it glows and shines with the strength of two lovers, always together, but as you grow older… So do they. Nothing can last forever and the only constant in our lives is change. As you grow older you see the people you look up to, the people you idolize and love slowly wither away as Thanatos guides them to the Underworld. This artwork is no different. As you grow older, you see these bulbs shine bright, but eventually one of them will burn out. You may watch as the other bulb is left shining without its lover, but no matter what, they’re still tangled up together. The bulb that’s left may be happy by itself, but it will never forget the love of their life.
Everything that bulb does will have a reflection of their lover in it. And, eventually, that bulb will burn out too… But I don’t see this as a sad thing — no. I’d be happy for that bulb. Finally, they can reunite with their lost lover and, in the future, we get to see the gravestones of two lovely lights that persevered through pain and turmoil, finally being able to rest together in bliss. Personally, it would be a fantastic story to see develop. Hell, it’s possible I wouldn’t live to see them die, but isn’t that what makes it so beautiful? The artwork can last generations and tell a different story to each one. The artwork has a lifespan, just like us humans do. These bulbs aren’t meant to be replaced because humans aren’t meant to be replaced.
An argument can be made about the bulbs getting damaged. Scratched, scarred or even fully blown up. Personally, I still believe that no one should replace those bulbs. We should hang up everything that’s still intact and maybe even add the shattered glass as part of the artwork. Life is unpredictable, you can’t fix everything that happens to you. Many people have lost loved ones to accidents. In the context of this art piece, many people have lost their lovers to HIV and AIDS. Despite this, they still remember and they still love. No matter how broken one bulb is, the other will always remember them for who they were. The other bulb will persevere.
No matter how long I think about it, I can’t understand why the artist would rather replace the burnt out bulb. Perhaps it’s because he wants to keep the original visual that he created. Maybe it was because that shining bulb represents something far more important to him. I wish I could have a discussion with him to figure it out. Rather, I would like to discuss with him my personal thoughts and feelings on the matter. I think it would be interesting to see and understand why he would create something about being irreplaceable and then proceed to make it replaceable.
Overall, I personally believe that this piece is an interesting study and I would love to see it sometime. I think there’s loads of beauty in its simplicity and a lot of thought that you can put within it.
I agree with what you said about the light bulb not being changed. Keeping the burnt out lightbulb in would have continued this story of showing how love could/would continue to flourish which is something that the artist intended. It would show the physical part of keeping the memory of your lover so you could continue to flourish. But I will say that replacing the lightbulb could also continue this meaning because like what you said moving forward, just because someone moves on from losing their first love doesn't mean they will completely forget about that love. A person could still keep those memories while also making new memories with someone else. But like I said before, I do agree that the changing of the bulb was not necessarily needed.
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