May 25, 2011

When you’re driving at night on a long trip, there’s nothing more comforting than a neon sign illuminating the landscape. Nowadays you can travel hundreds of miles and see the same corporate institutions represented over and over, but there are still pockets of fabulous luminous signage.

Project Neon! is a new blog that profiles neon signs all over New York City. There are great pictures and stories about the signs that evoke another era of Americana.

Nathan’s Famous (courtesy Project Neon)

From the site’s about page:

Follow a girl as she follows the glow in search of New York’s best neon signs. Every week I’ll visit another of New York City’s neon-clad establishments and post a photo & story, and tell you more about why I’m traipsing around this metropolis in the cold & dark to visit pharmacies, shoe repair stores, and bars with good neon signs to buy cough syrup, get my shoes repaired or just have a drink.

Sunny's Bar, courtesy Project Neon

Definitely worth a browse for history and visual art buffs alike.

Interested?

Browse more over at Project Neon! They are also on Kickstarter (with video!) here.

Also!
Don’t forget to check out Artlarking’s Neon/Nature event, Saturday June 4!

artMRKT, San Francisco Concourse Center. May 21, 2011.

I spent part of my weekend representing ZER01 at artMRKT, a large scale fine air fair at the Concourse Center in San Francisco. I only attended one of the three days, but would have needed the entire weekend to see everything artMRKT had to offer.

There were many recognizable Bay Area fine art galleries representing equally notable artists. In addition, there were a handful of galleries from New York, Miami, and even one from London exhibiting their world class artists.

However, what struck me about artMRKT just as much as the notable artworks were the people!

The people in attendance were not just collectors, curators and gallerists. On the contrary, I observed people of all ages, backgrounds and interests flooding in to the Concourse Center.

The common denominator was that most people came to spend a day being surrounded by artworks they wouldn’t normally have access to while spending time with friends and fellow art lovers. A few people I chatted with at the ZER01 table expressed a desire to be more connected in the San Francisco art scene. I spoke with a number of people who had come up from Los Angeles for the weekend, and even a few who were transplants from LA trying in search of SF’s artistic communities.

We’ve all felt the same way at some point in time. We know San Francisco has a lot of offer, but where are the answers? Artlarking is getting at the heart of that matter, and hopes to connect more and more people who have a shared love of the arts and collaboration.

The cure for feeling disconnected from your SF art scene? I was happy to give out the prescription this weekend: Get connected with Artlarking and make it to artMRKT next year. There are plenty of people there just like you.