ON-NEON ROUND TABLE
Saturday 28 August at 4PM
The Cross Art Projects
33 Roslyn Street, KX
(opposite St Luke's Hospital entrance)
Only a handful of neons remain of the Cross's famous 'Glittering Mile' -- Stripperama, Playbirds International, Love Machine, Porkies, Showgirls and the Coke sign. The Art Deco Society has listed the Kings Cross area as an Area of National Significance.
Recently, Clover Moore's new council has moved to protect Sydney’s neon precinct and Kings Cross's visual razzamatazz.
But are we being out-run by Frank Sartor's pre-programmed machine?
Other great neon centres actively conserve their neon heritage. Ten years ago even Rotorua saved its neons ('RotoVegas') and commissioned new neon art. Now Melbourne has a historic neon register. Sydney is moving to join them.
This is the moment to introduce new ideas to the Cross. Many locals believe that we need more neon, not just saving the few survivors. Creative thinking is needed, not formula. In this era of gentrification, the Cross is now being branded with the CBD's grim grey granite, 'smartpoles' and faux-cheery official banners.
ON-NEON is an exhibition and round-table of invited artists, architects, designers and interested locals will explore the possibilities of re-energising our most famous music and nightclub quarter.
Artists have long celebrated neon as the colours of the street, from poet Kenneth Slessor's 'Darlinghurst Nights' in 1933 to Baz Luhrmann's film 'Strictly Ballroom' in 1992. Ideas already raised include commissioning artists to create art-neons to compliment the heritage neons.
See http://www.neonmona.org/ for some inspiration! -- or just click on the headline above.
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CHAIRED BY: Cr Phillip Black (chair Cultural Committee) and Jo Holder
PLEASE JOIN ARCHITECTS, CUAATORS, HISTORIANS, ARTISTS, WRITERS, LOCAL BUSINESS
Speakers include: Peter McGregor, MW Architecture (Llankelly Place lights for SSCC; Chinatown Lighting for CoS), Eugenia Raskopolis (artist City Sculpture walk), Twist Creative, Claude Neon Group, Michael Gormly (local business), Sally Couacaud (curator Sydney Sculpture Walk), Kate Davidson (curator, City Exhibition Space), Ann Stephen (social history Powerhouse Museum).
After brief presentations, you can have your say!!
Editor's note: the live neon artworks are something to behold!
4 comments:
A lot of neon is inside the stores anyway. Council cannot do anything about it.
Buzz.
Check out this great site.
Neon is going.
Whoops sorry -- this is a really cool website I found.
Oh my god you are right check this a museum
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