Flickering light : a history of neon / Christoph Ribbat ; [translated by Anthony Mathews].

Main entry:

Ribbat, Christoph, author.

Title & Author:

Flickering light : a history of neon / Christoph Ribbat ; [translated by Anthony Mathews].

Publication:

London : Reaktion Books, [2013]
©2013

Description:

224 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 23 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-213) and index.
Reading neon -- Roses are blooming in Manhattan -- Neon wilderness -- Las Vegas : city of lights -- Green fingers -- Art from tubes -- Listening to neon.
In English, translated from the German. Originally published in German as: Flackernde Moderne. Stuttgart : Franz Steiner Verlag, 2011.

Summary:

Without neon, Las Vegas might still be a sleepy desert town in Nevada and Times Square merely another busy intersection in New York City. Transformed by the installation of these brightly colored signs, these destinations are now world-famous, representing the vibrant heart of popular culture. But for some, neon lighting represents the worst of commercialism. Energized by the conflicting love and hatred people have for neon, Flickering Light explores its technological and intellectual history, from the discovery of the noble gas in late nineteenth-century London to its fading popularity today. Christoph Ribbat follows writers, artists, and musicians-from cultural critic Theodor Adorno, British rock band the Verve, and artist Tracey Emin to Vladimir Nabokov, Langston Hughes, and American country singers-through the neon cities in Europe, America, and Asia, demonstrating how they turned these blinking lights and letters into metaphors of the modern era. He examines how gifted craftsmen carefully sculpted neon advertisements, introducing elegance to modern metropolises during neon's heyday between the wars followed by its subsequent popularity in Las Vegas during the 1950s and '60s. Ribbat ends with a melancholy discussion of neon's decline, describing how these glowing signs and installations came to be seen as dated and characteristic of run-down neighborhoods. From elaborate neon lighting displays to neglected diner signs with unlit letters, Flickering Light tells the engrossing story of how a glowing tube of gas took over the world-and faded almost as quickly as it arrived.

Resources:
Table of contents

ISBN:

9781780230917
1780230915

Subject:

Neon lighting History.
Neon signs History.
Neon History.
Neon lighting Social aspects.
Neon lighting in art.
Neon signs in literature.
Éclairage au néon Histoire.
Enseignes lumineuses Histoire.
Néon Histoire.
Éclairage au néon Aspect social.
Éclairage au néon dans l'art.
Neon.
Neon lighting.
Neon signs.
Moderne
Neonröhre
Lichtkunst
Leuchtwerbung
Kultur
Neon historia.
Ljus historia.
Neonskyltar historia sociala aspekter.

Form/genre:

History.

Added entries:

Mathews, Anthony (Translator)

Holdings:

Location: Library main 283102
Call No.: BIB 221120
Status: Available

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