Neolithic Spiral
40 years ago, in an art history class at Foothill College in Palo Alto, CA, I became aware of widespread neolithic stone structures in Europe, including in Ireland. One that caught my attention most was the Newgrange Neolithic Tomb, a 5,000 year old circular structure where the first rays of the sun on the winter solstice shine directly through the entrance to illuminate the burial chamber inside. Also, carved in a granite boulder near the entrance are several spirals. How and why the hunter gatherers of these times 200 generations ago did all of this has piqued my interest and curiosity ever since.
40 years ago, in an art history class at Foothill College in Palo Alto, CA, I became aware of widespread neolithic stone structures in Europe, including in Ireland. One that caught my attention most was the Newgrange Neolithic Tomb, a 5,000 year old circular structure where the first rays of the sun on the winter solstice shine directly through the entrance to illuminate the burial chamber inside. Also, carved in a granite boulder near the entrance are several spirals. How and why the hunter gatherers of these times 200 generations ago did all of this has piqued my interest and curiosity ever since.
In 2017, I created Newgrange Neon Spiral, patterned after these spirals in front of the tomb in Newgrange. I had the distinct feeling then, same as now with Neolithic Spiral, that I'd inherited DNA from my Irish sculptor forbears of 200 generations ago. That today's spirals come from my hands and mind working as the agent of these Irish guys from long ago. That if they were here today in physical presence as well as in mind and spirit, they'd laugh heartily with me to see it happening in versions fit for the glitzy bright lights of our hip metropolis of Los Angeles! In January 2022, in a visit to my neon supply store, Abitech, in City of Commerce, I saw a new product, Faux Neon, flexible tubes of neon light built into something that bends like a garden hose. This project, Neolithic Spiral, was born in my mind on that day.
I created a diagram of the work, and ordered the materials.
The faux neon tubes are manufactured in China, and took a few months to get here. I was somewhat intimidated by the complexity of assembling it all, and actually considered just storing it all in a corner of the cellar. Thinking about it day by day, night after night, however, yielded up solutions on how to do it. Photos tell the story best.
Add a dimmer to tone it down, and here we are... an age-old design that's filled with vitality,
and invites you in as if by the glow of an open hearth fire!
and invites you in as if by the glow of an open hearth fire!
