Animated Neon Eye for Simon Moretti

I was recently approached by the artist Simon Moretti to re-appraise a piece he had previously had made of a single neon eye and he was looking to add an additional layer of neon and animate the two together. Simon sent me the visual below as a guide to what he was looking to achieve.

The glass used was 10mm White 3500K for the lashes and lower eye and 10mm standard green for the iris on the first layer with 10mm White 4500K and 10mm Super Blue iris on the second layer.

The two separate eyes were mounted using 70mm high tube supports for the outer layer, with the same tube supports cut down to 25mm for the lower bottom layer.

In these photos I have rigged the piece up on my bench over the installation drawing to check that it all fits together correctly.  The electrodes and joining pieces of glass were painted out in a grey paint.

This picture shows the two separate transformers and two way flasher unit that was used to animate the two eyes.

 

A short video of the neon piece flashing from one channel to the other to check and adjust the speed of flash.

The Iconic Image of Che Guevara in Neon

 The Iconic Image of Che Guevara reproduced in Neon

The iconic image of Che Guevara, shown here in neon, and originally taken by photographer Alberto Kordo on 5th March 1960, is one of the most recognised and reproduced images of the 20th Century. The terrible irony being that the reproduced image, sold on printed  t-shirts, posters and any other number of items is a product of a capitalist society so hated by the anti-capitalist Marxist, Che Guevara, a man who dreamt of a classless society and the abolition on money.

The piece was made using 10mm uncoated cobalt blue glass filled with blue gas (argon/neon mix), 10mm clear glass filled with blue gas, 10mm uncoated cobalt blue filled with neon gas, 10mm coated ruby filled with blue gas and a small piece of 10mm coated cobalt blue filled with neon and features the small neon star pictured above which sits on the beret that he is wearing.

Initially I asked to make this for a client but felt quite early on within the process that I wouldn't be able to live up to his expectations and returned his deposit in full. Having already done the drawings I decided to make the piece anyhow and was very happy with the results and no money has changed hands other than the purchase of the glass.

I am located in Farnham, Surrey in the UK. Any commissions or enquiries for the manufacture or installation of any neon sign projects, sculpture or neon artworks that you are thinking of, please contact me through my email address as shown in my contact details.