Tim Burton
The Neon Museum [link]
Las Vegas, Nevada
Vegas provides a challenging environment for art, overstimulating and desensitizing visitors while overshadowing artworks with the Strip’s cacophony and spectacle. Inspired by his nostalgic childhood memories of Vegas, Burton’s sculptural and digital works administer a welcome respite. His surreal, whimsical characters seem at home, perfectly integrated in the neon boneyard, where all lost neon signs go to die. Like the discarded signs, his creatures are outcasts, existing between worlds–living and dead, fantasy and horror. Burton’s site-specific installations conflate Vegas’ history of guns, booze, gambling, and atomic testing with the artist’s dark comedic vision of martians and extraterrestrials–a wonderous experience.
images courtesy of the author
