brief, i comes before the e

Luminare
Ben Landau, Crumpet class
April 2006

Aim :
To create a sensual lamp which enhances, creates and suggests an intimate mood for use by a couple in their personal space, most likely a bedroom. The lamp is to be a sensual aid.

Objectives
To enhance intimacy - defined as: a deep and personal feeling within oneself, which refers to a lover or partner. This intimacy combines companionship, friendship, compassion, understanding, attraction, and most likely a physical togetherness. In this sense, intimacy gives way to sensuality, a sexual feeling which brings joy and strength to that intimate relationship. A suggestion of intimacy should be the lamp’s foremost objective, though may not be instantly recognisable.
Sensuality is not simply sex, but perhaps everything that is not sex.
It is to be a product, something available for purchase, but with restricted batch. The idea is to create a piece of working art. It should be different, not necessarily immediately obvious, but definitely intriguing. It could also include something of the user to personalise it. My main objective is to show intimacy and sensuality though the form, function and semantics of the lamp, and to use practical ideas that come from research to directly influence the concept. I want the inherent meaning of the lamp to be clear (not necessarily immediately obvious), and this should include the form, function and semantics.
In addition, and though it may sound far fetched. I’d like the lamp to be inimitable, different, completely unique and outstanding. In a sense, I’d like the lamp to completely stand out amongst other lamps for its ingenuity in the way in which it is used.
Limitations:
The lamp should be guided with my experience, but not limited to it. It should include others ideas of intimacy. The lamp is to be produced in small quantities, and if a final production model is made, then the appropriate techniques for small batch runs need to be employed.
Approach/methodology:
I will examine the surrounding circumstances of the lamp, the mood, feelings, atmosphere, sense stimulation, semantics and passion, to name a few. These sensual aspects are to be stimulated, heightened or focussed on by the lamp.
The research will include a look into semantics and colour theory. I would like to find an effective way to research intimacy practice, some qualitative research has already been carried out. From this initial research I gather that personal experience (not necessarily primary) is quite similar among most people, and so if I back up my own with others confirmation or understanding, this should involve minimal embarrassment on their part. Word association and casual interviewing may prove the most effective and unobtrusive. Additionally, people may be keen to answer yes/no questions, and a successful stimulant may be pictures, and sensuality is a very visual feeling. By using pictures the answers become more subjective.
Research other than primary could include brainstorming, IDEO methods of idea generation, group discussion and research techniques. Because the meaning of the lamp encompasses the form rather than the other way around, the meaning of the lamp is foremost, and this must be thought through before anything else.
In addition, I hope to find out more about materials, and the electronics of LEDs and CFs – how their light is perceived and how they may influence the design.
After research, I hope to complete concepts either by description, model, drawing or otherwise to present, and to be critiqued. This critique may inform my research, or adjust my parameters of the design. In this way, the aim is changeable. I imagine the final design will come of these concepts. If time and resources are available, I endeavour to create a final model.
Outcomes:
If it is possible I aim to make a mock up or final product of the lamp. But if not, then I will be satisfied with having all the ideas in place, and being able to talk freely and confidently about the background of the lamp.

Timeline:
Date
Research
Design practice
Feedback
outcomes
2/05/06
Personal interviews, relations to imagery

Record process thus far
Record response to creations thus far


Personal interviews
Personal statement


A definitive log of progress thus far, and a report of the effect of research, particularly semantics
9/05/06
Begin brainstorming, modelling, concept generation
Present to class all found last week







16/05/06

Present concepts
Review feedback



Finalise concepts


23/05/06

Finalise final idea/model

final idea set


Make model


30/05/06

Make model




Make model


06/06/06



Final model/mockup/
presentation



Review feedback


Often I l jump to a conclusion straight away. In this project, I hope to flesh out my ideas in accordance with research. In light of this, I would like to jot down my design process, what works for me, and what doesn’t.
The end mark for this lamp is not important to me. However, if I can define the parameters I wish to work within, and stay within them for the duration of the design process, including the final model, I think I deserve a distinction.

uni

i wane between so much enthusiasm and absolutely none at all. i dont need a reason for this work, i dont need high marks, or someone to pressure me into gettign off my arse, i just need to get shit done.

just a little something

great design ideas

do what i percieve as great ideas in product design come from a brief. I believe they dont. I think that its just an idea of the designer, so not a problem solver, just an idea-ist and stylist perhaps.

brief 1

sensual lamp

Potential:
Home use
Personal but common use
Consumer product
For eventual manufacture
Subtle
Different
Intriguing
Perhaps something made by the user – personalised?

Limitations
Realistic
Non personal to me
Fits with research

Approach/methodology
SLOW!
Take into account research
Brainstorming
Ideo methods
Group discussion led by me

Research
Sex/sensual practice
Intimacy practice
Materials related to intimacy
Semantics
Electronics (LED/CF)
Ask people
Colour theory

Objectives
Get the ideas right before the form
Form does not follow function, it is equally important, they may not dictate each other, they must work together.

Outcomes:
If it is possible make a mock up or final product of the lamp
Log design process

Some words:
Kiss
Sound
Touch
Tactile
Interpersonal
Emotion
Intimacy
Physical
Sympathy
Empathy
Union
Seduction
Lust
Courtship
Partnership
Identity (of self, of couple)

its not what it looks like, its the feeling it gives and the light it projects

try this

i reckon kate might like this
or front
if my portfolio was half as impressive as this
frank tjepkena designed the do break for droog, designed to crack but not break when dropped, look at it here and go to products
or here

goodnight

simple i know but...

i have been trying to grapple with this idea of everyone having different relationships and what my lamp will try and nurture and what it will try and foster. then i thought if i have something which is all encompassing it will lose a lot of its meaning because it will be for no-one specifically, and on the other spectrum, if i make it for one catagory of lovers (for instance bondage partners or a married couple) then it will exclude others.
so why not make something which is mouldable for each relationship? perhaps its impossible to make something completely all encompassing, but its worth a try. it seems so simple and a bit... tacky (like this lamp is for everyone and you can make it your own!).
i think back to that vase in the droog collective i think, where a couple buys it, and when they have a fight they can break the vase and then stick it back together, and then its theirs, and serves as some reminder. i dunno, i like the idea of the lamp being created out of passion between two people instead of anger. its sort of a lamp baby - cant afford a baby? - have a lamp.
just thinking on my feet.

wilsons3

burnt out remains and regrowth on the track from waterloo bay to oberon
jesse ben ella at the entrance

its not just the places you go, but the people you're with. a fantastic time with jesse and ella. thanks heaps guys ;)

wilsons2

burnt out (what plant is this mum?). it requires the heat of a fire to propogate its seeds.
view of oberon bay with sand dune plants
sunrise on teh second day of the walk from lt waterloo bay


In the Easter break I endeavoured to get away from it all, and so with 2 great friends, I embarked on a 2 day hike through Wilson’s promontory. Jesse and Ella are both medical students and we planned the trip in the week leading up to the time we would go. Ella had bought the tent and cooking implements, and we bought the food on the way. It was a new experience for all of us, having been camping previously with family but never doing anything off our own bat. It was unfortunately destined to rain, so we packed rain jackets.
Once we got there it was obvious we had made a fantastic decision. the scenery was remarkable driving in and though the wind whipped at our tent the night before we left, when we woke we were very keen. The hike led us through burnt out scrub, over a pass and down through rainforest gullies and over a swamp before emerging at a small overcast cove. We had a quick break while the flies buzzed at our scroggin, and then headed off to Refuge Cove. The walk around the headlands was spectacular but nothing prepared us for the view when we reached Refuge cove. The gums hung over the clean beach, while the white sand stretched out to the clear blue, and cold water. It seemed like we had discovered something which was completely untouched, and for nearly an hour we had the place to ourselves. I really felt calms and relaxed, removed from stresses at home and uni, and completely at one with the natural environment. It cared for us and we cared for it. We picked up rubbish that stupid tourists had left along the way, and the sky cleared and gave us a Queensland-worth beach.
The rest of the first day we scrambled up a peak to see our destination for the night, while passing a group of under-privileged kids taken on a group walk led by their local policemen. That night was spent talking with fellow campers, playing cards, and completely bathing in the opportunity to let go and be away from the bustle of the city. I really felt like it was a remedy to the aches and pains of everyday monotony. Meanwhile, my legs creaked after the days 24km effort.
The second day we woke for the sunrise and watched as the new day begun, the light grew from around one of the heads and Jesse remarked how it looked like a Microsoft gradient. The second day was not as memorable, as the weather closed in (but did not rain) and the scenery was not as picturesque. However we enjoyed each others company, and our sense of the strong bonds between us grew.
Returning to the camp we set off home, arriving in Melbourne as the sun set. It seemed like a different sun that had risen that morning, and cars and trams raced to get home. The three of us stood in wonderment at the unnecessary bustle.
We treated ourselves to a Wednesday night pub steak as large as my face.
It didn’t touch the sides.

wilsons

refuge cove, my favourite
rocks in the tidal river (tidal river - main camp) with lichen and tannon-ised water
a view across the valley between windy pass and sealers cove, ferns and small waterfalls were beautiful
more hardy ferns and tall gums

a mushie growing on the sawn off section of a fallen tree (cut to clear the track)

surveying

how can i survey people about something so personal and intimate as sex and sensuality without invading their privacy? discussion is useful, but can only go so far - how can i get the answers to the questions i want to ask? i dont think even anonymity can help. i think if people have personal secrets they wont want to divulge them in order for me to make a better lamp for a university project (nose in air). so where can i take my research from - the internet? i think theres a lot of looneys out there with no idea about sensuality or intimacy, and even then, i can't take their opinions or advice as they dont answer the questions i have.
sites like this help, but this advice is just the advice of just one person, and i could probably write the same sort of thing (probably with a little less insight, especially into the views of the woman in an intimate relationship).
a lot of what i have read either on the internet of in a few texts have stated that intimacy and sensuality are 2 different things, but they do overlap like 2 circles in a venn diagram. i guess i'd liek to tap into the emotion and mood in this overlapping area.

yes yes yes

winter nudists?
should i be publishing this or is braden right and it is too contraversial.......

thats awful

bike trailer

picked up a bike today which was bought on ebay, and got 3 wheels instead of 2, may need it as the front and back are differnt. another step towards making the trailer.
thats all

rad

rad

cityscape

peacefulperhaps

braden

a beacon perhaps, this is just 2AA batts with a led, total cost $1.5. possibility of message ont eh outside
alternatively, the light could not be diffused, and because the led if directional, we could suspend a figure in front of it by wire and make a shadow,
anyway, just a thought. its kinda like ambient graffiti though, not very statement like.
we could epoxy a foam disc onto the inside of the cup with the batteries and led set up, and then stick it high on teh wall of alleys or something.
i can really see it on the way to the croft etc.

synthesised sexy?

headache

how am i supposed to design a sexy lamp when i'm not in the mood?

what about?

a lift survival kit?

bike trailer

thought i'd post a piccy of my bike trailer sketch for workshop

what is this?

please comment a word association with this picture.
cheers

LAMP

i think i'll do the lamp

braden, led throwies

less than $1 for the batteries here
or 20 for $11 on ebay

leds are $25 for 300 on ebay.

cant find no magnets!
$13US per 25 magnets and $7US shipping charge
or from aussie magnets are about $36 plus shipping for 100
looks like led throwies are more expensive here!

failure

is always the best way to learn (KOC)
STUDIES
to tell the truth i havent really done much. for this mid semester project review for next week i'm pretty much stuffed. thoug i do have some ideas, and i direction i want to head, but in 5 weeks thats not exactly amazing. i guess i started looking at some books to do with self diagnosis, but there really isnt much other than the first aid guide, concept mapping for nurses to solve patients complicated problems, and my combination of somple medical knowledge and the idea of self knowledge. maybe this area that i am trying to pursue isnt really out there, and should that be a reason tos top or keep going? i guess i'll give it a go, but theres nothign much to research, and the things i think of are really only things i've made up.
i guess i'll do some hardcore writing this week and then file a report via email by the end of the week.
similarly in the 'experiences' bit i havent done all that much, but i have an idea of what might be applicable. and a few exercises i can do.

STUDIO
why am i not completely captivated by studio this semester, perhaps the things i am doing are interesting but not completely engaging with me - which is no-one by my fault. the sleep at uni thing, is really quite simple exercise and i really only need to start sewing the hammocks for the event, whenever that may be. perhaps i can tweak it a bit, to include someones food project and possibly hold it earlier int eh semester so that ic an maybe make a video and then edit and show it at the final exhibition.

overall, interestingly, i am enjoyign the making and cad side of uni this semester. the solar car, bike trailer etc are really getting me excited, and i am realising that i have some basic skills in solid works, rhino ( not not 3d max - maybe i can learn). why is it that i am interested in physical thigns this year, whereas last year it was the thinking side of the course which had me captivated.
to put it frankly i think its 2 things. the teaching and my need for a portfolio. soumitri was really engaging last semester, as was liam, but this year in modelling i have been given the chance to do what i want. in addition, i have foudn ti hard to get a grip with studies following the departure of lok. studio with kate is pretty good, but not nearly as inspiring or challenging as soumitri's. perhaps its better this way, ic an relax in different parts of the week!

then again, i can 't fudge a bike trailer at the last minute.