Hey, I know that sign! That's from MOCAD. The Museum of Contemporary Art- Detroit. I live near there, and have visited numerous times. A fantastic place.

I simply love these. I would totally live with them if I could.

On the arty front: neon is usually used strictly for commercial purposes, and especially advertising. While advertising and marketing certainly are in the business of human aspirations, dreams, wishes and needs, usually the messages sent to us by advertisers are inherently manipulative and self-serving. These signs address wishes and aspirations in a basically generous way, giving the reader hope, and asking nothing in return. It highlights the self-serving nature of the commercial messages that we live with all the time. It causes us to question how healthy it is to allow these advertisers to have a voice in our psychic world.

This post reminds me of the conceptual artist Jenny Holzer. She creates word-based installations, although I don't know if she's ever used neon in her work.

Her truisms are probably what she's best known for - sayings carved into granite benches, projected on buildings, scolling on LED signs, printed on t-shirts, etc.

These are some of my favorites -
"Use what is dominant in a culture to change it quickly"
"Turn soft and lovely any time you have a chance"
"Protect me from what I want"

here's a site that lists a lot of her truisms: mfx.dasburo.com/art/truisms.html

designboom has a little article about her and some pictures:
www.designboom.com/contemporary/holzer.html

And then there's Bruce Nauman, he's done word-based works made out of neon - here's one of them: www.pbs.org/art21/slideshow/popup.php?slide=561

Good finds Nesser!