Hello. My name is Jack Cochran. I'm a third-year Media Studies major at the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communication. This project was completed for Professor Carl Bybee's J413 Capstone Project Course, yet the idea for it came to me long before I had signed up to take the class.

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          Inspired by Jack Kerouac more than anything else, I aim to archive, analyze, and share historically and culturally significant neon signs before they vanish forever, as they will not alway be around to represent the distinctly American values of past generations.

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          While this website is intended to illuminate the history and cultural significance of neon as a symbol of mid-century American values, Burnt Out is an ongoing project that will be expanded upon and added to in the future. I hope to travel the West Coast this summer to document neon landscape vernacular myself. With any luck my photographs and travel experiences will be chronicled here to preserve the unique American experience found on the road.