It’s a Friday morning and I’m enjoying my usual café au lait and a pain au chocolat when I come across, well … what I can only describe as an avant-garde approach to the new logo of the UCD Students’ Union. What a shock, mes chers, what a shock I got.
Having been known to have critiqued some of the greatest artists of this generation (Rupi Kaur, Kanye West, Taylor Swift … I shouldn’t boast any further), The Turbine approached me for my thoughts on the new… creation (for lack of a better word).
What strikes me first is the harshness of the colours against each other. The colours evoke a sense of mystery but also of extreme confidence. It is so trés 90s. The neon green against a background of electric blue represents over-confidence and perhaps a feeling of excitement (two feelings I would least associate with the Union).
It should be added that the optical suggestions of the spatial relationships endanger the devious simplicity and accessibility of this work. In speaking to spectators on Tate Modern (Facebook), many cannot fathom why the ‘U’ is larger than the ‘S’. I overheard some spectators murmuring “US” in confusion. Although I am not a painter, I think that the reductive quality of the gesture spatially undermines the exploration of montage elements.
The Union Students’ has truly outdone itself with a similar logo appearing on its Instagram page, except this time, neon green on a background of pink. Rumours have it that the pink represents a feminist agenda of the Union Students’. Oh mon dieu, I hope the men will take this well.
Take me back to the days of real art, mes chers. When art was simply just not … ugly.
Manét – Critic of The Arts
