Light Bulbs 1988

Curator: At first glance, this feels like a very sterile still life. Almost like a product catalog. Editor: Indeed. What we have here is Lisa Milroy's "Light Bulbs," part of the Tate Collections. Milroy, born in 1959, presents an array of bulbs of different shapes, sizes, and colors, all carefully rendered. Curator: The repetition is interesting. It’s not just representation; there’s something about the sheer number of objects that feels significant. Light, as a symbol, can mean enlightenment, but here, it is fragmented and displayed. Editor: I agree. The bulbs reference illumination, but also fragility, and obsolescence. The cultural memory of light bulbs is tied to progress, but now we consider their environmental impact, their eventual disposal. Curator: So it becomes less about simple illumination, and more about the cultural baggage these objects carry. Editor: Precisely, each bulb represents a moment in time, a specific type of technology, a cultural ideal—collected here as a set of relics. Curator: It makes you think about how we consume and discard objects, doesn't it? Editor: Absolutely. It's a reflection on the ephemerality of progress, packaged in a seemingly simple composition.