"Untitled" (Toronto)

Felix Gonzalez-Torres

1992

A long, vertical installation of ordinary light bulbs, an extension cord, and porcelain sockets in which the artist turns domestic hardware into a spare, mutable monument that gestures toward memory, loss, and the possibility of replenishment.

It reads as a single thin line climbing a white wall and then collapsing into a scattered, luminous tangle on the floor, the repeated bulbs registering as delicate, rhythmic beats that feel at once clinical and intimate.

Part of González‑Torres’s practice of using everyday materials as open-ended, participatory sculptures, this work extends Minimalist restraint into personal and political territory—inviting viewers to reflect on absence, care, and the social effects of the AIDS crisis.

Palette

Art Terms

Conceptual art Installation Minimalism Found object Participatory art AIDS activism

Exhibitions

Reinstallation of the Contemporary Galleries

1985

A Survey: Artist's TV Lab, WNET/Thirteen

1984

Printed, Cut, Folded, and Torn

1974

Summer Light

1981