Signs of the Times - April 2012 - (Page 71)

(Left) Dave saved this sign (c. 1957) in 1988 when the Flying Yankee restaurant folded. The sign’s eye-catching shuttle is said to be an ode to Robert Goddard, who built the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, MA (where the restaurant was located). (Below) This 1950s roof sign from Chelmsford, MA is 10 x 6 ft. Dave saved it in 2009 when the restaurant closed; it still has its original paint and neon. non-neon signs. He stores them in his home – an old firehouse – as well as a storage warehouse he owns, lending them out for museum exhibits and movie sets. He sees the debate only slightly differently than Kim. Asked if he sees signs as art, he explained, “I do, actually, and they certainly weren’t built to be art. So that was not their intended use, but they’ve certainly become part of popular culture now, and they’re undeniably designed and built by artists.” Unlike Kim and Tod, Dave hopes his signs won’t end up in museums. His dream is to house them in a public venue like a train station or airport where the public could come across them accidentally. He’s rescued many aging signs slated for landfills. Ironically, passing motorists who see him dismantling a sign often vocally express their displeasure at the loss of a local landmark. They’re little aware that Dave’s dismantling is an act of conservation for signs already doomed to dumpsters. Because Dave himself feels the cultural, historical pull of signage, he tries to bring his collection into the public eye whenever possible. And if his wife fears he’ll one day die and leave her a house full of signs, he can’t ignore the calling to save, restore and share old icons. To this end, Dave often sets up guerilla exhibits of his neon signs, perching them on the back of his refurbished, 1946 crane truck (complete with a 30-ft., handcranked crane) at dusk. By hooking them up to small generators, he lets them be “unexplained pieces of graffiti” for a night before retrieving them the next morning. Boston police have never ticketed the truck. On the other hand, Kim’s audience is clearly the fine-art type (perhaps, in part, because Kim herself is an accomplished fine artist). Tod says he expects some art lovers to visit his museum, but doesn’t have high hopes for traditional high-art supporters who favor well-established venues: orchestra and opera concerts, art museums and galleries. Fine art, commercial art or not art at all, it’s clear that signs resonate with people. What starts – sometimes – as an eyesore can grow into an icon over time. It’s only too bad, as Dave points out, that sign lovers express their emotional ties to signs by giving him (in the process of a teardown) the finger as they drive by. It can be hard to plead the cause of conservation, or high art, to drivers whizzing by at 40 miles per hour. n SIGNS OF THE TIMES / APRIL 2012 / www.signweb.com 71 http://www.signweb.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - April 2012

Signs of the Times - April 2012
Contents
ST Update
Technology Update
Vinyl Apps
Strictly Electric
LED Update
Technology Review
Software Update
Sign Museum News
New Products
Times Square Update
That Sign is Fine (Art?)
Victory at Yorktown
Temporary, with Permanent Appeal
The Value of Signs
Anatomy of an M&A Failure
Industry News
Advertising Index
Editorially Speaking

Signs of the Times - April 2012