Neon (2003)

• 39%
• 2003
• Timo Novotny
• Nik Thoenen

This unpretentious video title equals the simplicity of its underlying structure. Nik Thoenen, a graphic artist by trade, constructed an installation consisting of fluorescent tubes mounted in a horizontal row especially for this video, his first. The arrangement of tubes was then "scanned" with a mounted Super-8 film camera.The method employed for this experiment had the following purpose: When neon lights are switched on, a mixture of inert gases trapped inside the tubes is electrically charged, producing an uneven, uncontrollable flickering. Together, the six stacked fluorescent tubes produce a nervous, poly-rhythmic light show which lasts for a few seconds. For a closer look at this aesthetic phenomenon, it was filmed at all possible speeds from time lapse to slow motion and with all available stops. Timo Novotny, a maker of music videos, then copied the resulting Super-8 material with a digital camera at different shutter speeds and manipulated the speed of the footage during the digital post-production phase. Finally, an atmospherically dense and somewhat eerie soundtrack by Wolfgang Schloegl was added. Dramatically, this joint project is consummated in a continuous switch from dark to light. Slowly but without hesitation, a disquieting tension builds, and resolution in the form of a "discharge" never comes.The physical qualities of neon - this "cool light of the modern" - serve as the starting point for this minimalist work's fascinating composition of light and sound.