I have been a fan of this artist's work for some time. Robert Montgomery is a London-based artist who works with text to disseminate his thoughts on various topics in public areas.
His Recycled Sunlight Pieces are often poetic and wholesome, sometimes controversial, messages which resonate deeply with those who would stop for a moment to read them.
They are large sculptural pieces which harness sunlight through solar panels in order to make them light up.
His work "THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE" is likely his most recognised and not surprisingly my favourite. He has exhibited it in various places and various ways - it's a very versatile piece.
In an interview with Dazed Digital, he says: “It’s made from recycled sunlight – the sculpture recycles sunlight to illuminate itself, as a metaphor for what we do when we remember someone we love. And I really like the idea of ghosts as a positive thing….”
He explains, “I’ve lost a couple of really close friends who have died very young. My two closest friends from art college already died for example and I think when that happens it makes you turn to those questions. I find ideas of angels and ghosts very comforting in that context. I find the idea that somehow love can triumph over death an idea I need to keep sane.”
Robert Montgomery is a fitting artist to research as we both use poetic pieces of writing in our art. As much as I love all the pieces I have put above (and many more) I feel like it would be too ambitious for my project to focus on creating something like that. I am going to instead look to make something more along the lines of this piece on the right. I'm drawn the simplicity of these posters stuck on the wall. The size of them - not too big for the wall, not too small that they can't be read - they mimick posters one might see around London that have been left up for too long, advertising a DJ night that's already happened months ago. If you're used to London, this kind of thing would be very easy to walk past this, not even taking notice of it. It makes something that you think would be out of place become very ordinary.
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