LibGuides: Neon and Plasma: Neon at Corning Museum of Glass

Curatorial Assistant Rïse Peacock shows you one of their favorite objects in the CMoG collection: Geissler tubes!

Museum Collection

Untitled Triple Loop by Paul Seide, 1981.

Blown glass filled with neon gas, sealed while hot.

The Wild One (B) by James Akers, 2018

Assemblage of Neon, Circuit-Bent Toys, Custom Circuitry, and Speaker

Frosted Radio Light by Paul Seide, 1986

Made from soda-lime glass, neon vapor, mercury vapor, copper, lead wire, radio transmitter.

This Shit is Bananas by Megan Stelljes, 2017

Sculpted glass, neon.

Flow Gate by Mark Stanley, 1976

Made using broken plate glass, fused in plaster forms.

Collection Highlights

Neon Primer by Kacie Lees
Call Number: TK4383 .L48 2022
ISBN: 9780578973173
Publication Date: 2022-01-01
Educational text illuminating the hidden nature of light via the craft of neon bending.
Neon: a Light History by Dydia DeLyser; Paul Greestein; San Francisco Neon (Editor, Designed by, Produced by)
Call Number: TK4383 .D36
ISBN: 9781736477601
Publication Date: 2021-02-19
A brief history of luminous tubing, neon signs, neon art, and neon preservation.
Neon Principles by Randall L. Caba
Call Number: TK4383 .C11
ISBN: 9780963421906
Publication Date: 1992-10-01
NEON PRINCIPLES...THE ART OF SHAPING LIGHT WITH NEON is a no-nonsense, how-to text that leads you through basic neon glass blowing tools, equipment & maneuvers to lighting up a finished neon product. Troubleshooting advice as well as step-by-step instructions compiled with illustrations, tables & photos offers a new approach to understanding & mastering this illuminating handicraft. The NEON PRINCIPLES WORKBOOK...A GUIDE TO SHAPING LIGHT WITH NEON guides you through neon glass bending exercises, for signs & art, with full-size basic & lettering patterns, ability test, & detailed instructions designed to maximize your learning curve.
The Neon Superguide by Randall Caba
Call Number: TK4383 .C11 2001
ISBN: 9780963421944
Publication Date: 2001-11-01
The Neon Superguide Complete How-To Manual is the successor to the Neon Principles reference and Neon Principles Workbook. This 216-page handbook combines the previous guides with upgraded-updated illustrations and text, more helpful photos and three new chapters - more than one hundred fifty pictures, tables and illustrations in all. It also includes additional exercises, savvy tips and tricks, and eight authoritative articles first printed in Sign Builder Illustrated Magazine.
Neon Principles Workbook by Randall L. Caba
Call Number: TK4383 .C11w
ISBN: 9780963421913
Publication Date: 1993-01-01
"This book is designed to be used with Neon Principles: The Art of Shaping Light with Neon textbook."

Neon Light & Sign - Articles from the Library Catalog

Interviews with neon artists concerning design, installations, and practices

Rakow Research Library's commissioned special edition of Neon Primer

Explore The Rakow Research Library's commissioned special edition of Neon Primer by author and artist Kacie Lees.

Neon Primer: A Handbook on Light Construction is a 200-page, coil-bound educational text illuminating the hidden nature of light via the craft of neon bending. Based on a decade of experience as a neon artist and instructor, Neon Primer assesses the psycho-historical impact of advertising on neon and provides a premise for quantifying "the glow" by way of its material components. Saturated with golden footnotes sourced from exhibition catalogs, pivotal light art works, films, etymology, and classic cultural influences such as Schoolhouse Rock!, this handbook has a high 90s aesthetic, chunky black and fluorescent exploded-view graphics, tear-out bending patterns, posters, and material guides that bring the text into the 3D space of the studio.

Neon and Plasma