Becoming educated in the sustainable fabrication of neon lighting.
Design Intent
Inspiration
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Observing the way glass tubes bend and stretch, I wanted to create a form that felt true to the material, allowing the glass itself to become the focus. While the shape resembles a hanger, I was more interested in the continuity created by a single bent tube.
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Inspired by the Gestalt principle of the Law of Continuity, the form reflects the uninterrupted movement found throughout nature, capturing a sense of flow, and infinite passage.
Form Development
I attended UrbanGlass to learn the traditional process of neon fabrication firsthand. Before this experience, I understood neon mainly as a technology that had been replaced by LED. Learning the process showed me that, through responsible fabrication and restoration, there are more conscious fabrication practices of neon today than there were in the past.
Observing the way glass tubes bend and stretch, I wanted to create a form that felt true to the material, allowing the glass itself to become the focus. While the shape resembles a hanger, I was more interested in the continuity created by a single bent tube.
Inspired by the Gestalt principle of the Law of Continuity, the form reflects the uninterrupted movement found throughout nature, capturing a sense of flow, and infinite passage.
Form Development
How the Material tells the story
The flexibility of heated glass makes it possible to create a single continuous line, which was my intention with the material. I made sure to embrace the natural formations that could be made through heating the glass. As light travels through the single tube, there is an expressive vibrance that is created from the satisfying form. The outer and inner layers of the material are embraced.
Process
The glass tube was heated over a ribbon burner and carefully bent to match the template while following one continuous form. After each bend, the shape was refined to ensure smooth proportions and no rigidness. Once complete, the electrodes were attached and the tube was processed, evacuated, and filled with neon gas. I was assisted by the proffesionals at UrbanGlass in Brooklyn.
Final Design
