Artist keeps Hong Kong's neon heir to life

Artist keeps Hong Kong's neon heir to life

The neon lights that once illuminated Hong Kong have largely gone out. These lights were a synonym for the city, but in recent years the government has tightened the regulations due to security concerns, which led to the removal of many signs.

The latest neon studio in Hong Kong

But in a studio in the Wong Chuk Hang, the neon lights light. Jive Lau founded the Kowloneon studio in 2021 to preserve the craft of neon production. His interest in Neon started for a long time, but in 2019 he took a week on vacation from his job as a graphic designer to attend a course for neon production in Taiwan. When Lau, now 42 years old, while the Covid 19 pandemic was released, he took the opportunity and devoted himself to neon art full-time. Today he has commercial success with his designs-including a complex neon facade for the US fashion brand Coach, a sign for a Louis Vuitton event and light installations for the hong kong " Ballet .

The decline of the neon lights

neon clams were first introduced in Hong Kong in the 1920s. While the city's economy flourished from the 1950s to the 1980s, the neon industry also experienced an upswing, explains Brian Kwok, professor of design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and author of the book "Fading Neon Lights, to Archive of Hong Kong’s Visual Culture". The lights were used for advertising for everything, from tailoring to bars to fish restaurants, but in the past few decades the neon industry has lost importance.

In 2011, the city's building authority found that around 120,000 advertising signs, including neon lights, existed in the city, many of them without permission. Stricter regulations led to the removal of many signs, including a well-known neon labeled cow sign about Sammy’s Kitchen, which was dismantled in 2015 as an illegal structure.

neon as an art form

Some local business owners have willingly replaced the neon signs with modern technology such as cost-effective LED lights. Social factors, such as the association with dodgy locations, also contributed to the decline of the neon, according to the M+ Museum. KWOK reports that in 2018 and 2019, when he ran research for his book, in the five Hong Kong districts that he examined were only about 470 neon lights left. Today he believes that only about 10 % of them are left.

The production of neon lights is a sensitive and complex task that strong burners requires to heat and shape glass tubes, as well as injection into the right mix of gas in the tubes, whereby the connections must be seamless so that you do not see them. There are not many people who still master the difficult and filigree work. KWOK estimates that there are only about three to five neon champions in Hong Kong, only one or two of whom work actively in the craft.

a beam of hope for neon art

In recent years, the disappearance of neon has increasingly attracted the attention of the media and the public. Some artists like Lau have started working with neon at a time when the city changes quickly. This also includes a advance guided by Beijing to contain different opinions according to the pro-democratic protests from 2019, which critics see as a danger to the creative freedom of the city. Many young hongtagers left the city.

"Neon represents Hong Kong," says Lau. "If the most beautiful and representative things fade from Hong Kong, I will be really sad," he adds. Some Hong Kong brands continue to rely on neon in their shops. Lau has signs for a gelateria designed and a large neon installation that he created is adorned with the flagship-store Retail Goods of Desire (G.O.D) in the central night life district lan kwai fong .

In contrast to the old neon masters, who mainly made signs with only the name of the advertised business, he follows a more creative approach. His sign on G.O.D. For example, shows figures that hold a wine glass and pour tea.

The future of neon art in Hong Kong

In his studio, where he receives subsidized rent from the state -supported Hong Kong Arts Development Council, walls are covered with tools, and the remains of broken tubes are scattered at work tables. It shows CNN a neon sign that is greater than himself, with artistically bent neon, which represents a phoenix and a kite - symbols that are often used as a background for Chinese wedding photos and for which he needed a month.

He also uses Neon to create sculptures and is planning an upcoming exhibition. He also works to open a shop that sells neon objects that are suitable for the notorious small apartments in Hong Kong. It shows CNN a small neon -colored flash that is mounted on a base. "I want to achieve a different kind of consumer," says Lau.

kwok observes similar trends under Hong Kong's few neon manufacturers. "The entire industry has shifted towards art -related projects or small projects for interior decoration," he explains. Lau would like to inspire more people for this art form and started a three -month internship program at the end of last year to teach other young people.

The first group of eight interns included students and professionals from areas from technology to art restoration. Lau Plans to carry out a second internship later this year. "Some people say to me: 'Don't create unnecessary competition'," says Lau. "But we have to increase the community for the future."