Fritz Lang's 1927 masterpiece Metropolis shows some interesting examples of early experimentation with neon as a scuptural medium. Seen here on the desk of scientist Rotwang is a large inverted vortex showing off some fantastically big electrodes.
P versus NP, 2010, white neon tubing, transformer, cables, approx. 500 x 200 x 25mm Nick Malyon.
In 2000 the Clay Mathematics Institute offered seven prizes of $1,000,000 each to anyone who can solve any of their seven listed Unsolved Problems in Mathematics. Luckily the Poincare Conjecture has since been solved by Grigori Perelman who, incidently, declined the award. That does however leave six of the problems unsolved.
The P versus NP problem is a major unsolved problem in computer science, in essence asking whether every problem whose solution can be efficiently checked by a computer can also be efficiently solved by a computer.
Last Friday was spent at 2 Cornwall Terrace, London NW1 next to Regent's Park installing "I Kiss You" by Tracey Emin for "The House of the Nobleman" art exhibition running from October 15th-20th and coinciding with the Frieze Art Fair. Curated by artist Wolfe von Lenkiewicz and Victoria Golembiovskaya the show comprises 68 works of art from both private collectors and art dealers including works by Picasso, Poussin, Rodin, Cezanne, Warhol, Banksy and of course Tracey Emin.
Entry to the exhibition is free but you will need to register for admission. Well worth a look if you are going to Frieze.
Rats 2004, painted argon fluorescent tubing with electrical attachments overall dimensions variable; tubing:17 x 52 x 5 cm
UK based artist Jonathan Parsons has produced several pieces of neon art over the years and tells me (I've seen the drawings) that he has plans for more. Rats was made in 2004 using 15mm diameter White 1A (6000K) Snow White tubing with 50m/A electrodes, all supplied by Sign-Tec Services and powered by a Mode NeoTran. When finished, the face of the neon was dipped in gloss black block out paint (normally applied to the back of the tubing) stopping any light from passing through the front of the tubing and producing a "halo" effect of white light.
