Neon accumulation

Neon accumulation

I ngā tau 1960, i a ia e noho ana i Te Āporo Nui, ko Billy Apple tētehi o ngā ringatoi o te uki tuatahi i whakamahi i te haukura hei kauwaka auaha. I te hekenga o te ao ohanga i roto tonu i tōna manawa tukituki, i te karapotinga o ngā mea tūramarama i ngā taonga hokohoko, ka rata atu a Apple ki ngā āhua whakahaurangi a te hangarau me hōna hua matū hoki. Ka tūramarama mai te haukura mā te auahatanga o ngā rehu, i roto tonu i tētehi ngongo koata – he haukura, he hauhauhā, he haumāmā, he konuoi – he pūngao whakakaha ki te whakaputa i ngā kano huhua.

Ko te whakarara i roto i tana whakamātautau i te tūrama, i huataki ai i ngā mahi hao, i te whakaraupapa, i te whakarārangi me te whakarite i ngā maramara tāone, he horoi, he whakapīata, he whakarerekē rānei i ngā āhutanga kaihoahoa o ngā takiwā auaha. I werohia e hēnei tuhinga ngā taiepa o ngā mahi i whakamana i ngā whakaputanga toi, waihoki ngā mahi i hāngai ki te tiaki i te nōhanga hōu. I whakaweawe ngā tuhinga a Apple – i raru hoki – i te whakahaere, i te tiaki pūtea me ngā pūnaha o tōna tāhuhu me hōna tukanga i whakawhirinaki atu ngā ringatoi i ngā whakaaturanga me ngā mahi tauutuutu.

I whakatinanahia a Neon Accumulation e Apple i tana mātoro mai i Aotearoa i te tau 1975, i a ia e whakaatu ana i hāna tāreitanga i ngā whare whakairi toi puta noa i te motu. I te tuatahi i whakairia i te arawhata o te putanga ahi o Govett-Brewster, ā, i wawe tonu te aukati a te ratonga ahi o Ngāmotu i te whakaaturanga. Mai i taua wā, i āta kitea i hōna hanga huhua, ka pokepokengia, ka whakahoungia kia hāngai ki ngā takiwā whakaatu hōu, me ngā rerenga kētanga o ngā waiaro ki te haumaru tūmatawhānui.


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In the 1960s, while living in New York, Billy Apple was among the first generation of artists to use neon as a medium. Within the epicentre of consumer capitalism during the decades of its ascendance, surrounded by glowing emblems to commodities for sale, Apple was drawn to the technology’s intoxicating visual effects, as well as its chemical qualities. Contained within glass tubing, neon’s brilliant illumination is caused by the animation of gaseous matter—neon, argon, helium, mercury—with an electrical charge to produce different hues.

In parallel to his experiments in light, during this period Apple undertook actions which included gathering, sorting, cataloguing and arranging urban detritus, or else cleaning, polishing, or altering architectural features of art spaces. These gestures tested the boundaries of actions which constitute artistic production, and actions necessary for the maintenance of contemporary living. As well, Apple’s gestures drew attention to—and troubled—the administrative, financial and infrastructural systems and processes relied upon for art’s presentation and exchange.

Neon Accumulation was realised by Apple during a visit to Aotearoa in 1975, during which he presented installations at galleries across the country. Initially installed on the Govett-Brewster’s fire exit staircase, the work’s presentation was swiftly closed upon the insistence of the New Plymouth Fire Department. Since then, the work has appeared in many configurations, continuously adapting and remoulding in relation to different spatial confines, and changing attitudes towards public safety.

— Simon Gennard, 2026