The pilot project is the practical outcome and manifestation of a public art work located in the Merchant City by the artist and architect
A neon sign for Tontine Lane, Dug out canoe found AD 1871
Background History
From the 1650s onwards maps laid down the history of the land showing us a world much older than the one we know and see. From this analysis and from the consultation of books and articles our research revealed three strong images of what the Merchant City must have looked at different times during its development. The first of these images was cornfields, they occupied what is now King Street and Parnie Street, the second image was orchards, once the gardens of the Merchant City running up Glassford and Hutchison Street and the third image was a dug-out canoe excavated from the site of the former Tontine Buildings. Where cornfields and orchards are no longer present on contemporary maps, having been replaced by streets and buildings, the archaeological sign with the words 'dug out canoe found AD 1871' remain
Neon - the medium of urban signs, the medium of the city.
Most cities and metropoles have neon signs, but Budapest must have some of the most lyrical and sophisticated. The City is adorned with colourful, luminous drawings that have become an integrated part of the architectural, urban landscape. They date back to the 1960s, the period known as 'soft communism' when the communist state looked towards the west but still followed party ideology. There are no brand names in these neons, this was not capital advertising, they simply inform - cafe, puppet theatre, printer, lost and found office.
Dug-out canoe found AD 1871
Influenced by the aesthetic of the Budapest neons and their 'non-advertising' status, and by Marc Auge's idea of the 'supermodern', the 'dug-out caoe found AD1871' neon presents historical and archaeological information as art, as a sign, as a spectacle, as light.
This is the first (the pilot) in a series of neons proposed for the Merchant City, all of which will draw their images from the history of eh area.
