Conditional Glow (2025–ongoing)
Conditional Glow (2025–ongoing)
Conditional Glow is a series of neon text works that transform overheard phrases, bureaucratic fragments, and absurd statements into glowing signs. At once playful and unsettling, the texts hover between sense and nonsense, critique and humor.
Neon, often associated with authority, advertising, or nightlife, is reimagined here as a fragile voice of identity. Phrases like “existing, but only conditionally approved” or other ironic twists of language capture the instability of belonging, the absurd weight of bureaucracy, and the resilience found in humor.
Each piece functions both as sculpture and statement—illuminating not only the wall it hangs on, but also the fragile systems of power, memory, and identity it critiques. As a series, Conditional Glow adapts across contexts, building a constellation of glowing voices that question what it means to exist, resist, and persist.
Notes on Conditional Glow
Conditional Glow (2025–ongoing) is a series of neon text works that transform overheard phrases, bureaucratic fragments, and absurd statements into glowing signs. At once playful and unsettling, the texts hover between humor and critique, sense and nonsense.
Neon is often linked to commerce, advertising, or nightlife—contexts where words in light signal power, desire, or authority. Here, Zainorin reclaims the medium, turning it into a fragile voice of identity. Phrases such as “existing, but only conditionally approved” highlight the instability of belonging and the absurd bureaucracies that shape our lives.
The texts themselves are unstable: some clear and declarative, others fractured, glitched, or contradictory. This instability mirrors the precariousness of identity, especially for those navigating migration, displacement, and cultural difference. The glow is alluring, but also fragile—reminding us that identity, like neon light, flickers and can fail.
Each work functions as both sculpture and statement, minimal in form yet resonant in meaning. The series is open-ended, expanding across contexts and spaces. A single glowing phrase can fill a room, but in constellation, the works form a chorus of voices that question authority while embracing humor as survival.
At its heart, Conditional Glow asks what it means to exist under conditions imposed by systems of power. Through irony, absurdity, and light, the series invites us to laugh, reflect, and reconsider how identity is shaped—and how it might be resisted or transformed.
Technical Details
-
Materials: Custom neon tubing, transformers, wiring
-
Dimensions: Variable, depending on phrase and site
-
Requirements: Wall or window surface, standard electrical connection
-
Adaptability: Modular series; works can be installed individually or in groups
Exhibition History
-
Kunstpakhuset, Ikast, Denmark (2025, solo exhibition Rhythm of Identity, premiere)