Neon saving
Neonsigns are essentials of the nowadays so common retro nostalgie. In my eyes they are interesting in a different way.
These signs never sold anything. For example “ buy ready made clothes ! “,where more to inform about the function of the shop. The lights more or less, were only turn on after the shop was closed. Absurd now and probably it was absurd earlier too. Glowing neons gave the impression of a real metropolis for the workers after they came out from their work by night. After the change of the regime the publical finance for maintence stopped and they began to break down. Many people tried to save them with the support of a positive public opinion, although nobody managed to find a possible way for it.
Our concept was to preserve and replace them in the city in a different context. We have been managed to save 20 neons since one year. The problem of the temporary storing was solved bz the Museum of Electric Engeneering . For the request of the Office of Cultural Heritage, we created a Budapest neon map and database, as a result some neons became officially protected.
The project can be ranged as a public art activity. It is a positive nostalgical adventure for more generations, and let us compare these handmade objects with the contemporary advertisements.
