Monday, April 26, 2010

Musical Neon

I'm going to try to explain what this is. It is an object from an art exhibit at the Asian in San Francisco. It is taller than my head and wider than my arm span, and consists of dozens of small strips of neon, each strip wired separately.

I wasn't supposed to take a picture of this, but it was irresistible. The rule for museums these days is photos without flash in the regular exhibits, nothing in the special exhibits.

I could hear it playing from the next room, like a mystical sound track, single notes of random pitches with a tone like a cello or bassoon. What could it be?

Each individual strip of neon goes on and off, and when it goes on it plays a note. At the moment of the photograph most were on. If you bought this, you could put it in your living room and stay in tune with the universe.

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