Daniel Pflumm

The light installation by Daniel Pflumm (*1968 Geneva, CH) is built using a cast-off sign that, even without its original lettering, is immediately recognisable. The purpose of the sign was to transform the viewer into a potential customer – and therefore buyer of the consumer product advertised. By reducing the logo to its basic form, Pflumm strips the light panel of its primary function and minimises the original advertisement's recognisability. But even if he removes the object from its conventional context, the viewer is still able to identify the outline. Like Bernhard Luginbühl (*1929 Berne, CH; †2011 Langnau im Emmental, CH), Pflumm recognises the aesthetic of industrial waste in unwanted advertising signs, and adopts their colour and shape untouched. Pflumm's object art is not merely a critique of consumerism. Rather it is a commentary on socially established communication and the modern preference for images and signs over writing. A unique logo design helps a global player like Panasonic achieve instant brand recognition for its products, without the need for language.