Red neon lights arranged in geometric shapes or casting eerie illumination onto darkened trees almost seem like a natural phenomenon in the vein of the aurora borealis, captured by photographers who manage to be in the right place at the right time. A glow coming from a slit in a snowy landscape or just under the surface of the sea hints at the presence of life forms just out of sight.

‘La Linea Roja’ by photographer Nicolas RIVALS carries on a longstanding tradition of introducing artificial lights to natural spaces for high-impact temporary art installations, but adds a little something extra in the form of a strikingly limited color palette, moody skies, black lines of tree silhouettes and surprisingly natural-looking compositions.

The Paris-based photographer installed the lights in various landscapes while on a trip through Spain, capturing the effect using long-exposure photographs.

Here’s what RIVALS has to say about the series:

“A red line woven over a journey through Spain, to connect Man with nature. A red line to fix a moment of poetry. Unreal scenes which existed for a night to disappear in the morning. An installation left as a proposition to the natural world. A luminous harmony between will and chance. Between tribute and sacrilege. Between the beautiful and the range. An aesthetic research on shapes engaging in dialogue with an asymmetrical nature.”

In an effort criticized by local businesses as well as global visitors, Hong Kong has deemed neon signage illegal and is ramping up its systematic removal of these historic place-making lights.

To fans of the city’s vibrant nighttime glow, such signs define the bustling metropolis as much as any work of architecture or public art, featured prominently in many images taken and movies set on or around Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.

In the last decade, thousands of signs have been removed through incremental city initiatives while preservationists scramble to save, store and display them. Populated with curators and directors from around the world, including the Tate in London and MoMA in New York City, the new M+ Museum is becoming the de facto guardian of many of these castoffs, collecting physical signs as well as videos, images, maps and other documentation.

More about the digital arm of their endeavor: “Presented by M+, Hong Kong’s museum for visual culture, “Mobile M+: NEONSIGNS.HK” is an online exhibition that celebrates a key feature of the city’s streetscapes by exploring, mapping and documenting its neon signs. Alongside curatorially-produced essays, videos, slideshows and artist commissions, over 4,000 photos were submitted by the public from 21 March to 30 June 2014 to collectively create a unique neon map of Hong Kong. The site will remain as a lasting record and examination of Hong Kong’s fast disappearing neon signs.”

The classic art of neon sign-making involves electrified gas-filled glass pipes, originating in Europe but dating back nearly a century in China. Today, factory-made LEDs are becoming the industry standard. Around the world, the old methods are fading, but many artisanal practitioners continue to fight to restore old signs and keep such practices alive (images by Keith Macgregor, Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze and Mark Pegrum via TheCreatorsProject).

Designed to be suspended below Chicago’s elevated rail system, hovering above cars and pedestrians, this 5,000-tube neon lighting installation aims to bring bright colors to drab railway tracks, using illumination to bridge the dark gap formed by overhead infrastructure.

A set of elevated rails forming a rounded rectangle in the heart of the city, the Chicago Loop defines the downtown experience. Physically, visually and audibly, this nexus of sometimes-subway lines creates a circuit of transit over and under which vast numbers of people travel each and every day. Despite its centrality and functionality, the Loop has little presence in terms of the city’s public image, at least it until The Wabash Lights came along.

The main aim is to activate this shady pseudo-circular zone, turning it from an ignored void into a enjoyed space. The first phase of the project has already been successfully funded on Kickstarter and the next step will be a limited-scale test implementation of the technology. The lights are highly programmable and infinitely customizable, able to cycle through sets of colors and form complex patterns.

It is hard to avoid drawing a comparison with another highly-visible and quite popular neon project in Chicago, namely: the neon light tunnel (Sky’s the Limit by Michael Hayden) connecting Concourses B and C at Terminal 1 in the O’Hare International Aiport, “a mile-long kinetic light sculpture composed of 466 neon tubes [reflected from above by] 23,600 square feet of mirror.”

The duo behind the idea, Seth Unger and Jack C. Newell, are well-suited to the endeavor, with backgrounds in design, branding and creative strategy on the one hand, filmmaking and public art on the other. Together, they are looking to involve citizens from start to finish, looking to them for feedback as well as funding.

More on the project from its creators, using “LED light tubes to transform an iconic piece of Chicago infrastructure into a canvas for a dynamic, interactive experience, serving as a catalyst for a re-energized Wabash Avenue. Working with the Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago Department of Transportation, and City Government, we have received approval to install a small section of lights on the Wabash Ave tracks to troubleshoot design, interactivity, and test how vibration from the “L”, temperature changes, and the wear and tear of the city affect our hardware.” (Hat tip to Chris B and James B).

Striking geometric shapes in acid-bright palettes breathe life into gray urban spaces thanks to the signature style of artist Maya Hayuk. Often appearing perfectly symmetrical, her work seems to be planned and painstakingly designed well in advance, but it’s often created spontaneously in response to the feel of the chosen setting.

Precise lines in rainbow fluorescents converge into chaotic arrangements of geometric shapes, interspersed here and there with more organic imagery like human eyeballs. Look into one of Hayuk’s kaleidoscope-like creations long enough and you’ll start to notice little eccentricities, like sharp-toothed creatures, hiding in the mix.

According to her bio, Hayuk is inspired by popular culture, Ukrainian handicrafts and advanced painting practices “while connecting to the ongoing pursuit of psychedelic experience in visual form.” It’s safe to say she achieves this effect, each massive mural looking trippier the longer you stare at it.

In addition to large-scale murals located all over the world, Hayuk paints works on canvas and collaborates on a range of other creative projects, from fashion to music videos. In an interview with Cooler, Hayuk says “I listen to a lot of music while I work, there are a lot of repeating patterns in my art and in music. I also found it exciting to help create an object that empowers the person holding or carrying it. I do believe in this kind of magic.”

Known for his geometric art installations, Aakash Nihalani is back with a mind-bending sequence of shots that show humans interacting with his reality-warping work.

In Landline, individual and paired persons become part of the project, standing in front of urban surfaces and seemingly skewered by abstract shapes.

White shirts become backdrops for black squares sliced from each set of outfits, shot through in turn by bright neon pink, green, orange and blue rectangles.

For more of this artist’s work, including additional closeups that show the trick behind each sequence, you can follow his posts on Eye Scream Sunday.