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The engineer, of course, brought to these collaborations technical expertise and interest in problem solving. While the technology needed by the artists might often be "trivial' from the engineer's point of view, its application in a new environment for a new use provided difficulty and challenge.
Klüver and the neon "R" of Field Painting

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Field Painting <1964>

Jasper Johns asked me if I could give him a neon letter which was powered by batteries only. Johns wanted no cords attached to the painting. I needed a high voltage supply. To stack up batteries to 1200 volts would have been messy, dangerous and impractical. So my colleague and I began with a 12 volt rechargeable battery. A multi-vibrator circuit converted the DC voltage from the batteries into AC. Transformed into 1200 volts and then rectified, it powered the neon letter. All the technical equipment was mounted behind the painting. We were able to provide enough energy for the red neon "R" that glows in Field Painting.