- Venue
- Futurist Cinema
- Location
- North West England
Emese Benczur
Think About The Future, 2010
Mixed media outdoor installation
New commission for Liverpool Biennial 2010, Touched
This disused building on Lime Street was once the home of the Futurist Cinema and for Liverpool Biennial ‘Touched’ it has become the site of Hungarian artist Emese Benczur’s installation “Think About The Future”, 2010. Benczur has recreated the “Futurist” sign in its original position high above street level. The letters are bold, red in colour with a metallic edge conveying an ultramodern outlook. This is in sharp contrast with the neglected state of the building itself which has fallen into disrepair over many years. Below the title is a mock Readograph sign which traditionally would display the names of the current films showing at the cinema. The sign says ‘Think About Your Future’. This is very confusing since the official name for this artwork is “Think About THE Future”. Obviously the whole meaning of the piece changes significantly with the substitution of this single word. The sign asks us to consider our own individual fate whereas the given title of the work (“Think About The Future”) would seem to refer to our collective prospect as in the future of mankind. So there is a contradiction between our personal, finite destiny as opposed to the bigger picture of the global legacy. It is one thing to talk about our own future, over which we may have limited control; quite another to be asked to think about our responsibility to future generations. Whether this is a case of the artwork’s true meaning being “lost in translation” (A Hungarian Artist working with an Italian Curator for an English Biennial) it communicates as shallow, its visual effect is slight and its sentiment vague. It appears to be crass and simplistic. Whilst the “Futurist” sign looks new and authentic, the Readograph sign is obviously fake and a parody of the glory days of this dearly regarded picture palace which still lives on in Liverpool folklore. This notice is poorly made and clumsy as it fails to replicate the original cinema display, simply looking cheap and inferior by comparison. For the sign to be read as genuine the text should be centrally placed-it is not. The font used is clunky and oversized and it does not convince. The letters are flat and the joke “falls flat” as a result.
Maybe a carefully constructed attempt at recreating a genuine Readograph sign would have packed a more powerful punch. Moveable lettering could have elevated the work; the letters could even have changed every week, just like a new feature showing; “THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE”, “THINK ABOUT YOUR FUTURE”, “THINK ABOUT OUR FUTURE”, “THINK ABOUT THEIR FUTURE”…. If detail and authenticity were applied to this project it could have achieved a more impressive impact.
Benczur could have used archive photographs of the Futurist to aide and develop a much more focused approach. Maybe she did and the cost became a factor. For this reason it appears to be a half baked idea containing the seeds of a concept but which has not been fully realised. It almost looks like the budget for this project could not fully deliver a worthy Liverpool International Biennial piece.
