Created for the Crossroads Exhibition of sculpture at York in 1991, the work makes use of the university's massive, looming cooling tower as the vehicle for 60 laminated color photographs of the American White House. These were re-photographed from TV news broadcasts during the Gulf War. The title of the work, Penthouse, Whitehouse, Lighthouse , like many of Collyer's titles, can have several meanings, as does the artwork itself. At night the tower is spotlighted to become a beacon for the whole campus. By day you might find it reminiscent of the watchtowers that guard the border crossings in Europe.
Ambiguity is an important element in much contemporary art.