CINELUX_NE_10

Summary:

The Neon makes promises and stakes claims.

Description:

Neon is the fifth-most-abundant element in our universe. On its own, neon glows a fiery red shade of orange—but it’s versatile. What is casually referred to as “neon light” can sometimes be a combination of noble gases—with helium added to achieve pink, or krypton to generate green.

As a medium for commercial signage, neon got its start at the 1910 Paris Motor Show, where chemist and engineer Georges Claude debuted his upgrades to the existing neon tube. In 1912, a local barber shop was the first to buy one of Claude’s neon advertising signs. It only took a few more decades for such signage to become an integral part of the American landscape. Cities from Las Vegas to New York and Chicago were defined by the signs that colored their late nights and early mornings. When used as advertisements, neon spells out what a place is all about—it makes promises and stakes claims.

By the 1960s, perhaps inspired by Pop art , artists were using neon to make sculptures and stage public interventions