Page 574 - Demo

$I%u20acPick a PoHtidaiy Pick a PlantSo you%u2019ve voted for a few clunkers, the library is closed because it'sElection Day, and you don%u2019t want to sit around eating. What you shoulddo is drop by the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens for its first Election Dayplant sale, from 11a jn . to 5 p,m.r November 7, with an 11 a m. to 2 p.m.repeat the following day.The sale, in the rotunda of the Garden's main building, at100 Washington Avenue, involves a huge variety of house plants,including such specialities as African viofets, orchids, begonias,bonsai plants, trees, ferns%u2014 you nam e it. Potting supplies andeq uipm ent will also be for sale. Sandw ich iunch is available, and%u00a9 h A n n a r n o>r%u00abr\\ 44*% w Ml v I t w i w i I IV IV v ii VII II II VW^I I It IV V*m< UVI r.Election Day House Plant Sale. November 7,11 a.m.-S p.m., November S,11 a.m.-2 p.m. Brooklyn Botanic Garden. 1000 Washington Ave., for moreThe Glowing Signs of the TimeT h e g h o stly s to re fro n t g lo w dow n alo ngA tlantic Avenue these days isn %u2019t from a lost soulback from the grave; it%u2019s from Robert Albert,bending and tw isting glass tubes in his neonw orkshop. %u201c I use neon as a fine art form ,%u201d he says.%u201cW hen I get this place fixed up, w e%u2019re going tohave w a ll-to -w a llfin e art here.%u201d Until then, RobertAlbert Neon functions as a neon store, w hereeverything from three dim ensional neon sculptureto store logos and argon nam es is for sale.Neon has more than an avant-garde appeal.Albert and his 6-m onth-old Germ an Shepherdpuppy, M ercury, live in a hom e lit by neon. %u201c It%u2019sefficien t. Neon uses less ele ctricity than any otherlight source, and the average lifetim e of a neontube is thirty years. And it%u2019s not dangerous,%u201d hesays. To prove his point, he picks up a flask ofargon gas, puts the top in his m outh, and rem ovesthe stopper. Deep breath. %u201cS ee?%u201dA lb ert%u2019s local w orks include a neon sign forCourt Printing and a c h e f%u2019s hat for the C riticalCook, and a tw enty-foot geom etric sculpture ofhis recently hung at the G uggenheim m useumduring a fund-raising party.Neon costs, though; it may be safe, clean andefficient, but it%u2019s expensive. Small pieces start atabout $100 for tubing, wiring, gas and installation,and after that %u201cthe sky%u2019s the limit. I mean, you canalways order a 5,000-foot sign that says in biggreen letters, %u2018Welcome to the Big Apple,%u2019 and it%u2019llcost.%u201d Few of his jobs are that extravagant.%u201cAnything you can draw,%u201d Albert says, casuallylighting a cigarette from a ribbon burner gastorch, %u201cI can do.%u201d%u2014L.S.at 22$ ftf e ife. - f i t , i-S p.m. Far , caninformation, call 122-4433.Page IS, THE PHOENIX, November 2,1978