Neon Rainbow, the second New York Sky Event in the summer of 1976, consisted of a three-hundred-foot polyethylene arc that soared 150 feet above the 59th Street Pond in Central Park and was visible for miles.

In collaboration with light artist Alejandro Sina, artist Otto Piene attached seventy-five slender, red neon tubes—each two feet in length—to the polyethylene arc. This created a dual visual effect: during the day, the outline of the arc predominated, but as night fell, the lights, programmed for a strobe effect, illuminated the summer sky.

Photograph by Ruth Cummings.

Otto Piene and Alejandro Sina

New York Sky Events: Neon Rainbow

Central Park

1976