Researching the use of text and neon has opened up a dazzling world of lights and statements. Here are some of the artists influencing my current project.
NEON
Tracy Emin, obviously. For using her own handwriting to make it even more personal, for saying something poignant or shocking, and for subverting the idea of neon itself. 
Bruce Nauman takes a similar approach, but using standard simple text rather than recreating handwriting. He uses many different colours, often repeating a version of phrase to distort it:
TEXT
Jenny Holzer likes to shock. Her use of text is pretty bold and inventive. Here’s an example:
TEXT AND NEON
The guys running the Neon Workshop (where I did an intensive course in March) did a twelve month project to adorn the roof of their workshop with a love-themed neon sign, documenting each stage in their blog. There is something powerful about seeing neon in a relatively rural area – they played with the element of surprise and intrigue, deliberately targeting the rail passengers on the west coast mainline with their love-themed neon lyrics.
hannahbailey.org 