Meet the Montreal artist mastering neon bending

Montreal artist Five Eight shows you how he manipulates neon into shimmering works of art.

»Subscribe to CBC Arts to watch more videos: http://bit.ly/CBCArtsSubscribe

Montreal artist Five Eight is no stranger to working with unforgiving materials — when you're a mural painter, you have to learn how to manipulate a spray can, paint on brick or work around corners. Recently though, Five Eight's taken on a whole new medium: neon-glass tube bending.

This is a tricky process. Neon was discovered in 1898 and was being used in tubes for lighting and advertising by about 1910. The skills you need to manipulate the technology haven't vastly changed since then, though the popularity of neon signage exploded in the 20th century. It became maybe a bit kitschy for a while there, but more recently (since about the 1980), it's once again become a sought-after medium for businesses, interior design and as an art form of its own.


Find us at: http://cbc.ca/arts
CBC Arts on Facebook:   / cbcarts  
CBC Arts on Twitter:   / cbcarts  
CBC Arts on Instagram:   / cbcarts  

About: Welcome to CBC Arts, your home for the most surprising, relevant and provocative stories featuring artists from diverse communities across Canada. Our job is to fill your feed with the disruptors and innovators changing how we see the country through movement, images and sound — and to inspire you to join in too.