Experience, Create, Review, Repeat

Upon completion of the first attempt at my neon sign I took some time to reflect.  Over the last couple of days, I’ve taken the opportunity to discuss the piece with tutors and various other people.  The more I’ve considered it, the more I feel certain that making the piece aesthetically satisfying in ALL lights is important.  I’m imagining the miraculous but hypothetical event of someone considering paying hard-earned cash for the thing after being bowled over by its brilliance when exhibited!  In that instance I feel it would be vital that the piece is a nice thing in all forms.  Neat, tidy, tactile as well as visually pleasing.

This has brought me back to my thinking of using fishing wire and hidden holes to attach the light wire to the board.  It’s also made me think seriously about transferring the whole thing onto a better board that can be worked on to give a better finish.

So today, this is what I started doing…….

Transfer to second board, chipboard and pencil, 2015, Hannah Maynard

After a hint from one of my fellow students I transferred the layout of the lettering onto a new piece of board.  Although this one is still a bit rough around the edges like the last one,  this one is more easily rescuable.  In order to contain the lettering on the board with no bits hanging off the edges I took some measurements and scaled down the whole thing slightly.  I managed to work quite quickly and draw the lettering to a standard I was pleased with.

Lettering temporarily fixed to second board, 2015, Hannah Maynard, neon strip lights and chip board

To save time, I fixed the light wire to the new board using tape.  This allows me to see that the lettering works well and make any adjustments.  I’ve also started a few tests with the fishing wire set up to make sure this method will keep the shape well enough.

I’m really pleased with myself for having taken the time to really consider the best way of going forward with this project.  I find that I will often, all too easily rush projects just to see tangible results and end up with work that could be so much sleeker.  I want this to be sleek and am looking forward to working on the details to get it that way.  Watch this space.

Having received the extra lights in the post yesterday, I’ve managed to complete the first attempt at the neon sign.

Neon Sign, almost complete, 2014, Hannah Maynard, neon strip lights, chip board

Initially I was unsure how to secure the tail of the ‘y’ which s why in the image above it is left hanging.  Because of the placement of the lettering on the board, there was not enough board at the lower edge to fix the tail completely.  With a little experimentation I have managed to secure it in a way that works quite well when illuminated.  Some slight adjustment might be needed to make sure it sits as well as it can but I can do that when I make the finishing touches.

Completed first attempt, 2014, Hannah Maynard, neon strip lights, chip board

Seeing the sign lit like in the image above is very satisfying.  Overall I’m really pleased with the result.  However, there are a few changes I would like to make.  As mentioned in the previous post I’ve been considering using fish wire fed through small holes in the board to secure the lights in place instead of the hundreds of nails which look rough.

Next Steps:

– Source fishing wire

– experiment with fish wire to affix light strips

– clean up board, remove pen, sand edges

I found a perfect board in the workshop which although, ridiculously heavy, is a great size.  It’s also coated in melamine or some such material which makes for a great surface for drawing (and erasing) the script template.

First attempt at script template , 2015, Hannah Maynard, pen on melamine-coated board

Having practiced the style of writing I wanted off the board and on smaller test pieces, I felt  comfortable free drawing the script onto the board.  I used a white board marker to make sure I could erase and re-draw as much as I light until it looked good to go.

Once happy with the writing, I figured there was nothing left to lose so just went at it with a drill to start the first guide holes for the wire lights.

First lights on, 2015, Hannah Maynard, neon strip lights, tape on melamine-coated board

So far so good.  Taking a lot of hammering and so far I’ve only got batteries for one light strip so will only be able to see one section lit at a time!

Although it’s taking a lot of nails to get the contours right for the lettering style, at the moment it feels like the best way to assure a good look when illuminated.

I’m relying on the piece being shown in the dark so that only the light is visible and not the rest of the workings, nails etc.  This was ok in the test piece although in that I only used tape to secure the wire.  Once the whole thing is put together and tested, I will look to see how the finished piece works.  I’m prepared to make adjustments to the finish of the work if the nails stand out too much.  Although the piece should be shown in the dark, I feel it would look more streamlined and professional if it looked pleasing in full light as well.  Kind of like making sure the back of your needlework is as neat as the front?!?!?!

Next steps:

– Complete this first test piece

– Source enough batteries to light all lights at once

– prepare alternative fixing strategy in case finish of nails is not good enough

So researching costs for building a neon sign brought some bad news…….Expensive!!

Which has led me to investigate possible cheaper alternatives.  I’m hoping this has been a success and will be putting together some test models to see if I can make a go of it.

Test model for neon sign project, 2014, Hannah Maynard, neon strip lights and tape on board, approx 60x40cm

For the test model shown above I have used the cheap alternative neon strip light which is like a long glow stick with an attached battery pack.  By drawing out the lettering on a white board and taping the strip light along the template I have been able to mock up a smaller version of the end result.

The test has demonstrated the need for a more permanent fixing for the wires.  Also, I’ll need to drill holes through the board in order to feed through the excess wires so that the linking parts between words and the battery packs are all hidden.  Instead of tape for fixing I think using small nail pins to guide the wire into the right places should be an effective way of doing it.

Next steps:

– source more lights

– source a large board

– get drawing the template writing

Sketchbook Page

When looking at all the different styles and fonts used in neon signs for advertising all manner of things, it’s clear to see there’s no fixed rules.  Originally I felt there might be some kind of standardised style of text but that is definitely not the case.  Which leaves me to decide on what kind of font I want to develop for my sign.  Just looking at the examples of strip club signs in the last post, it seems that capital letters work well.  However, I like the idea of a more flowing script like in the example below.

Neon Sign Example Image

Available at: http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/27161018/3/stock-illustration-27161018-neon-sign-girls-icon.jpg

With this in mind, I’ve attempted to develop a kind of cursive writing style that I can adapt to the text to be included in my sign.  I feel it looks more enticing somehow.  More alluring, more feminine.

Notebook Page

As my research has been progressing for this idea, I’ve been tackling a feeling in my gut that perhaps this whole neon sign thing has been a bit done to death.  I’m torn between this and the fact that I feel the materials work perfectly for what I am trying to address in this piece of work.  I’ve finally come to the conclusion that, if anything, the fact that neon signs have been a bit done to death in contemporary art, adds strength to my point.  It correlates well with the fact that similarly, misogynistic attitudes like those echoed in the routines of Dapper Laughs and elsewhere in patriarchal society have also been completely over used and also ‘done to death’!

It’s all just a bit old hat!!