you are 'on' an island a neon light project by alicia eggert + mike fleming

the travelling van pictured in front of an island in north wales, where the artists later had to get towed out of the mud…

in 2012, neon workshops invited american artists alicia eggert and mike fleming to bring their collaborative project, ‘you are (on) an island’, to the UK, and present it as a mobile venture to an unsuspecting audience around yorkshire. in january 2013, the artists arrived in wakefield, installed the neon sign on the back of a hire van, sparked up the delicate gas-filled glass with a small generator, and took to the road.

the neon sign’s statement, ‘you are on an island’, is animated by the word ‘on’ flashing at regular intervals, transforming the initially obvious statement into a reflective and philosophical inquiry… ‘you are an island’. when shown in the UK, variously on motorways, perched on a roundabout, next to the sea and in a snow-covered field, the work communicated a meaning that was open-ended, shifting with each new environment and with each indeterminate individual invited to look, dismiss, ignore or interpret it.

the sign, along with photo and video documentation of their guerrilla sculpture tour, is featured in an exhibition at neon workshops in wakefield, from march 15 – may 11, 2013.

parked sideways (without permission) across a pedestrian shopping street in leeds

the artists occasionally removed the sculpture from its mobile pedestal – here it is pictured on a hillside overlooking the scenic pastures in yorkshire

always on the go, the van circles a roundabout a few times too many

the artists spent the majority of their tour visiting the industrial and working-class towns in west yorkshire, catching people by surprise on their way to and from work

the van perches on top of a traffic island – its final hurrah

the sign on display on the roof at neon workshops in wakefield

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.