Tuesday, May 3, 2016

A blast of neon art past in Columbus. "Didy Wah Diddy" (Atomic Playground)

      Usually I post signs of the current, or past that remain in the present. This is a little tidbit of central Ohio art history that also is neon related. Installed and dismantled over 27 years ago,  I never got to see it, but oh boy it would be something if this could be dug out and flipped on.

      This was an art installation designed by American sculptor Billie Lawless (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Lawless). It was installed in the late 1980s and intended to be visible from I-70 by Livingston, near Bexley. Apparently this was installed as part of an art contest sponsored by The city of Columbus ordered it to be taken down as the long neon sequence caused distraction to drivers on I-70 and could have caused accidents. This was before I ever lived in Columbus so some older timers may remember. The actual piece is stored in Cleveland now, after being displayed off I-480 there for a while, and was ordered down for similar reasons. More info  here. Post if you remember it or  took pics of it.

Here is a video of the sign in action, probably in mid 1988