Since its inception, neon lights have been entwined with advertising. Their electricity emblazons the night sky with the optimism of 20th-century commercialism, their messages dictate to the public what they ought to want and need.

The holographic display of this work, conjured through the manipulation of light, echoes this legacy of neon’s seductive allure, offering a presence that is at once tactile and illusory, like the ubiquitous advertising that populates both our physical and digital landscapes; their glowing lights strategically designed to attract and hold our attention in the service of commerce.

In the 21st-century, through social media, video conferencing, augmented reality, our lives are increasingly entagled with the virtual, leaving the notion of unmediated physical presence uncertain and arguably illusory.

In this context, the neon advertisements presented here take on a dystopian quality, their once-exuberant promises now faded and distorted. The illusions they weave may no longer fool us, but in their wake, we find ourselves trapped in a nightmare of consumerism, where we are expected to participate in our own entrapment.