The different persisting moments in the creative process of “Light as Air”.
1/ “I don’t wanna do flat neon art!”
Whenever I tell people I do neon art,
they would expect me doing a flat neon work with slogans.
I can’t be more grateful for La Prairie’s trust in my pursuit of a monumental sculptural neon art installation at Tai Kwun Parade Ground for this Art Basel HK 2023 – expanding the potential of HK neon.
During the past week, I have heard different visitors saying the installation surprises them in many ways and out of their expectations🤍
2/ “Human circuit only!”
Aiming to be the first interactive neon glass installation in HK,
I tried a lot of different methods to not fry anyone’s brain out.
There are many ways or sensors to execute a multimedia design or installations. At some point, Fred suggested we should just use 2 buttons or other sensors for the interactivity as there were too much noise in the input reading. However, I insist on using human circuit as I truly want to bring out the notion of “join hands and force” with the physical activation of holding hands🤝
We made it at the end and it is really rewarding to see all the surprised faces every time the light got brighter when the viewers hold hands together, and brought out the message stronger – “If we join hands and force as a community, we can light up a brighter future.” 🤝✨🌎
3/ “No acrylic!”
At some point, we have received the news from Art Basel that we need a Perspex acrylic cover for our originally planned immersive hanging neon installation at La Prairie Lounge in ABHK.
I understand AB’s concern is to prevent the public from touching the neon. I really don’t want to use acrylic as it will create a lot of reflection of the surrounding that disrupt the viewers to view the piece.
With my set design background, I then counter-proposed to use theatrical gauze as an alternative solution. With the Swiss landscape printed on the gauze, the neon will be lit up at the back, allowing both Swiss image and neon landscape to be seen clearly.
And it works very well and is going to be one of my favourite mediums to work with neon in the future, after porcelain🤘
The Neon Girl 