Sunday, October 04, 2015

The light that will never go out: God’s Own Junkyard comes to Soho

God's Own Junkyard
 More here

Lights of Soho: Brewer Street is now the global home of creative neon art

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New home sought for vintage Rapid City neon signs

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Up in Neon: Works by François Morellet and Frederic Bouffandeau

Bouffandeau

Two legends who designed Las Vegas’s iconic neon landscape died on the same day

April 19 was a dim day in Las Vegas, Nevada, as two of its legendary designers from the glory days of neon signs passed away within hours of each other.

Betty Willis, Birth Mother of “Fabulous”

 

Brian “Buzz” Leming, Pioneer and Preservationist

 

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Joseph Kosuth At Sprüth Magers London - Illumination Without Brilliance

Joseph Kosuth At Sprüth Magers London - Illumination Without Brilliance - ArtLyst Article image

It’s a gas: Making light work of art Read more: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/yorkshire-living/arts/art/it-s-a-gas-making-light-work-of-art-1-7086570#ixzz3nYzvbCRE

Neon artist Richard William Wheater.   Pictures by Bruce Rollinson 
 Neon artist Richard William Wheater.   Pictures by Bruce Rollinson

Thursday, October 01, 2015

New York's disappearing neon signs: the city flips the switch on its colorful history

The Airline Diner, in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens
 The art deco sign stood watch for nearly 80 years over the bar two stories above the subway on the corner of 60th and Lexington. Then in an instant last fall, it was gone.“In the past few years, we have been able to save three significant signs, and we saved them because all the businesses that had these signs also owned their buildings,” said Jeff Friedman, a craftsman with Let There Be Neon, the go-to rescuer and creator of custom neon in New York. “The care and interest of these signs is never there when the new owners take over the buildings.Read More

Watch This Neon Sign Master Make His Glowing Art



Twin Cities Public Television's "MN Originals," which "celebrates Minnesota's creative community," just aired an episode featuring an excellent segment (see below) on Matt Thompson, a glassblower who has been making neon signs for 30 years.
The segment shows Thompson explaining his apprenticeship learning the art of glassblowing and neon signage, which, it turns out, is a surprisingly old-fashioned art. The video also includes lots of footage of Thompson carefully heating, bending, and blowing phosphor-coated glass tubes, which (be honest!) is what you're here for. The brilliant colors come from a combination of the phosphorescent coating of the glass and the introduction of neon (or neon mixed with argon and a drop of mercury) into the bent tubes.Read More



Making neon signs is a dangerous art. Glass tubes heated to 1,400 degrees can shatter, sending razor-sharp shards into the hands of an artist whose concentration has flickered momentarily. Neon artists gamble on skill, eye, focus and a deft touch every time they make a beautiful sign for a restaurant, bar, car wash or other business that craves this form of eye candy.
Ortwein Signs has taken that gamble several times a week for more than 90 years. Founded in 1923 by a German immigrant to Chattanooga named Ortwein, it now has locations in Knoxville and Nashville.
 Neon signs are making a comeback in the area thanks to hipsters, he says, those urban millennials who love neon for the artisan talent, old-school handcrafting and unearthly glow, like starlight captured in a bottle.
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A neon art piece installed at Old School, a restaurant on Dundas St. W. Artist Kelly Mark says the work is an unauthorized copy.


A few weeks ago, Kelly Mark was online, searching for some photos of a neon artwork she had made for a client, a shop in Seattle. She wasn’t happy with the images she had and hoped social media, with its appetite for ubiquitous documentation, might provide better.
It provided something else, though.
“I did a Google image search of ‘Kelly Mark’ and ‘neon,’” she said. “Fifty images came up right away. Immediately, I knew one of them wasn’t mine.” Read More

Public neon artwork brightens night

A new light-based artwork has been installed on the exterior of the Ronwood Ave car park in Manukau.
 A new light-based artwork has been installed on the exterior of the Ronwood Ave car park in Manukau.Read More

Photos: The dying art of the neon sign

The process of neon glass bending is featured in “The Making of Neon Signs,” a specially-commissioned video produced for “Mobile M+: NEONSIGNS.HK." Photo and caption courtesy of M+ MuseumThe neon signs of the Tsui Wah restaurants are all seemingly identical, but each differs slightly from the others. The sign on the Parkes Street location incorporates a neon cup of milk tea. Photo and caption courtesy of M+ MuseumPhoto courtesy of M+ Museum

We’ve seen them glowing on New York City theater billboards, Las Vegas casinos and Hong Kong high-rises. They cast unbidden light and shadow into restaurants and homes and are a part of the daily scenery for millions. But neon signs, once a vital part of a city’s culture and barometer for its economic climate, are fading out of sight as the once-popular technology disappears from the streets.
An online exhibition tells the story of neon’s history, which began purely by accident.Read More

An Ode to the Disappearing Neon Signs That Light Up the Streets of San Francisco

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Augmented reality enables people to see beyond the exhibiting objects. (Photo: Ecns.cn/Qian Ruisha) 
Augmented reality enables people to see beyond the exhibiting works.