{"id":896,"date":"2019-11-05T10:17:52","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T18:17:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/?p=896"},"modified":"2026-08-30T22:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T05:49:12","slug":"welcome-to-lost-vegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/welcome-to-lost-vegas\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to \"Lost Vegas\""},"content":{"rendered":"
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This article was printed in the<\/em>
\n Autumn 2019 issue of Chic Compass Magazine<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Lost Vegas: Tim Burton\u00a0 with Artwork at the Neon Museum
\n<\/em>Photo Courtesy of Denise Truscello\/Neon Museum<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Welcome to \"Lost Vegas\"<\/h1>\n

NEON MUSEUM SPOTLIGHTS ART INSTALLATION BY DIRECTOR\/ARTIST TIM BURTON<\/p>\n

BY STACEY GUALANDI<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Situated now on the grounds of The Neon Museum\u2019s outdoor \u201cboneyard\u201d\u2014a collection of historic signs from Las Vegas\u2019s glittery past\u2014is a domed structure that looks like it\u2019s straight from NASA. Walk inside the rotunda, and there is a mysterious glowing visage that reappears every few seconds on the front of a life-size slot machine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho is that famous female face?\u201d I ask everyone within earshot. I\u2019m guessing Marion Cotillard, Eva Green, or maybe Helena Bonham Carter? Tim Burton\u2014the daring director behind classic fright flicks Beetlejuice<\/em> and Nightmare Before Christmas<\/em>\u2014flew to France to film the actress but won\u2019t fess up. Believe me, I tried.<\/p>\n

Burton\u2019s illuminating piece of art is just one of over 15 brand new works found in \u201cLost Vegas,\u201d a significant, first-of-its-kind art exhibition in the history of Las Vegas, and the first time that Burton has presented original fine art stateside in almost a decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve really enjoyed reconnecting to my artistic roots,\u201d says the one-time Disney animator. \u201cIt\u2019s who I am. So, making weird art in the desert has been extremely satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"Lost<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Lost Vegas: Tim Burton\u00a0 with Artwork at the Neon Museum
\n<\/em>Photo Courtesy of Denise Truscello\/Neon Museum<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Mixed throughout the museum\u2019s iconic collection of preserved neon signs, Burton\u2019s sculptural and digital installations pay a very personal homage to what he calls \u201cthe peculiar and beautiful past of this city\u201d through his eyes and his distinctive artistic style.<\/p>\n

Though he grew up in Burbank, Burton says he spent much of his formative years with family on weekend road trips to Sin City.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been coming to Las Vegas since I was a baby,\u201d he says, \u201cso as a child, a teenager, and an adult shooting a movie, I\u2019ve had a weird history here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burton recounts the emotional experience of sneaking into an old Las Vegas sign company for the first time back in the 90\u2019s; once staying in a shuttered Aladdin hotel; and filming the demolition of the Landmark Hotel for Mars Attacks! (something he admits has \u201cforever haunted\u201d him). But, he says, these strange memories have been an inspiration artistically throughout his career.<\/p>\n

\u201c[They\u2019re] memories and snippets about illusion and that\u2019s what Vegas is all about for me,\u201d says the 61-year-old. \u201cThe image in my childhood of giant sea horses coming out of the Dunes pool many years later\u2014like, two-feet-tall\u2014it\u2019s a weird illusional place, and being a filmmaker and artist, that kind of illusion and perception is important to explore, and this is a good place to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, those images have been brought back to life in \u201cLost Vegas,\u201d in all their Burtonesque glory. A 40-foot tower in the shape of the old Dunes hotel; three giant seahorses on an even more gigantic neon grid; a tribute to the Landmark Hotel implosion; and, of course, his Martian invaders from the movie that first exposed the neon boneyard internationally in 1996.<\/p>\n

Neon Museum CEO Rob McCoy says this collaboration was not only a no-brainer, but also a \u201cunique experience where the location also served as creative inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re one of the most unconventional museums in the world,\u201d says McCoy. \u201cAnd I dare say that Tim Burton is probably one of the most unconventional artists and directors in the world. It\u2019s a perfect match.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"Lost<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Lost Vegas: Tim Burton\u00a0 with Artwork at the Neon Museum
\n<\/em>Photo Courtesy of Denise Truscello\/Neon Museum<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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McCoy shares Burton\u2019s passion for all-things-vintage-Vegas as his family has lived in the city since 1939.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur parents would throw us into the car when we were kids, and on a Saturday night for cheap entertainment, we would drive down Fremont Street to see all the lights or we would see what new sign was being erected on the Strip, so this is really close to us,\u201d says McCoy.<\/p>\n

McCoy has been with the museum for several years, first as a board member, the last three as president. So in May 2018, when he received an email from Burton\u2019s exhibit curator, Jenny He, saying that Mr. Burton has been following the development of The Neon Museum, and that he loves the museum and Las Vegas and would really like to do an exhibit at the museum\u2026\u201cyou don\u2019t tell Tim Burton no, and I certainly didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cut to 17 months later and Burton has pulled off the seemingly impossible: showcasing MC2 Experiential Studio projection mapping; animatronic sculptures; Looking Glass volumetric displays; and, of course, animated neon signs.<\/p>\n

McCoy says, \u201cNinety percent of what people will see is brand new and it\u2019s been created especially for us, which is incredibly flattering.\u201d<\/p>\n

This exhibition is just the latest phase of an ambitious expansion for the 23-year-old museum, referred to as Neon2020. It has already acquired a vacant Strip building across the street, with plans to move to the new campus early next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to totally repurpose that building,\u201d says McCoy. \u201cIt will house our very first indoor exhibit area, a smaller gallery and education center, and a neon fabrication workshop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Space is limited at the boneyard, so instead of spreading out, signs will be going up, in a gentle nod to downtown Fremont Street\u2019s \u201cGlitter Gulch\u201d heyday. The first person to use the new 30-foot grid is\u2014you guessed it\u2014Tim Burton.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"Lost<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Lost Vegas: Tim Burton\u00a0 with Artwork at the Neon Museum
\n<\/em>Photo Courtesy of Denise Truscello\/Neon Museum<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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\u201cLost Vegas\u201d follows \u201cBrilliant,\u201d artist Craig Winslow\u2019s 30-minute dazzling audiovisual display in the North Gallery that debuted last year, and the official re-lighting of the iconic, fully-restored Hard Rock Cafe guitar sign in March\u2026likely responsible for both driving Neon\u2019s reputation globally, and boosting attendance this summer by 32 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had over 250,000 visitors this past year,\u201d says McCoy. \u201cNinety percent of those were tourists and of that, 74 percent were staying on the Las Vegas Strip but coming Downtown, which is going to help our annual economic impact on the city of Las Vegas by over $7 million a year.\u201d
\n(And that was all before Tim Burton came to town.)<\/p>\n

Sadly, neon is a dying art form, but Burton\u2019s links to the city\u2019s historical neon heritage may renew interest for artists and visitors alike. Expectations are high for the exhibit, presented by the Engelstad Foundation. It will remain on display through Feb. 15, 2020.<\/p>\n

For his part in reimagining \u201cthese beautiful old dinosaur bones,\u201d The Neon Museum presented Burton with the \u201cGlow Award\u201d at the third-annual, sold-out, Boneyard Ball inside Encore Las Vegas. The event culminated with an epic performance by hometown heroes The Killers, at Burton\u2019s request. (He\u2019s the band\u2019s former music video director.)<\/p>\n

Whether your favorite piece is the Burton poem-in-neon, \u201cStain Boy Sing-A-Long,\u201d or the aforementioned unidentified face-on-slot machine (c\u2019mon, Tim! Who is she?), \u201cLost Vegas\u201d is yet another immersive experience from the mind of a macabre movie maker.
\nNot only will it enhance his wildly weird body of work, but it will also help The Neon Museum\u2019s mission to preserve Vegas history for future generations\u2026and perhaps, make a little history of its own.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you\u2019ve kept\u2014these beautiful art pieces is the thing that I\u2019ve always loved,\u201d says Burton. \u201cThere\u2019s something about the process of creating something that is always exciting. I just enjoy making things.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Lost Vegas: Tim Burton Artwork at The Neon Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada \/\/ Photographs Courtesy of Denise Truscello\/Neon Museum<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>

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