arrogant reflective
Luminare – Ben Landau
My intention at the start of this project was to examine my design process, and I began in the first 2 weeks with this in mind. I clearly stated that the object would be to know my strengths and weaknesses, what I enjoyed and what I could improve on specifically. Unfortunately through this aim, I lost sight of the project. It was almost as if by examining myself I couldn’t also do the project well. I need to learn about my designing or design, but I can’t do it consciously at once. Below I describe my journey through this project as best I can.
I was sure I had a great idea when I thought about designing a sensual lamp. It was something I knew I would have to nut out, not just a form or an idea1, but a heady combination of the two. With encouragement from Kate, I knew I wanted something unique. I’ve only once produced something (a tape dispenser) I had so much faith in that I couldn’t improve it. But its strength was its form. I wanted this sensual lamps form and idea to be its obvious strengths.
I jumped to quick conclusions with a form and idea. This was because I thought I wanted to have it over with in 2 weeks. The form was simple and intentionally so – I wanted it to be innocent when off and hot when on. The purpose of this lamp was more sexual than sensual, and at the end of the 2 weeks when I decided to carry on with the luminare, I changed this approach.
I was really stuck in a rut of my finality of the design after the 2 weeks. What I had there could be built but was a flawed beautiful idea in that it had the function but not an exciting form. I didn’t realise it at the time, but the final product was just the 2 week progress plus a sexy form change. So what does that say about progress? Two weeks to get somewhere and then another 8 to get a little bit further. Perhaps I need to work another year on it before I have gestalt2.
The sketches followed, with further sexy line-work. Kate suggested I take a larger drawing space and really loosen up. What resulted was a curly thrown sheet form, which I then took into cad and tried to describe in 3D. I guess this side step was a bit of a departure from the aim of producing a lamp – but I was happy to go on a tangent. In the meantime I thought up names for the different characteristics of thrown clothes, which I photographed. Billows are where air is trapped in an area and it catches it like a sail, flickbacks occur when a narrow part (shirt sleeve) is flicked around in the opposite direction to the direction it’s travelling – and there were a few more. I had this idea that shedding of clothes was a very sensual process, however the throwing of clothes is more passionate and sexual, and also reminded Kate of a business shirt which is discarded at the end of the day.
I combined these ideas into a paper Mache model of a thrown sheet, which is similar to the 3D model. I didn’t use this, but it was an interesting way of getting a cool form quite quickly through a reasonably rudimentary method.
It was time to get serious about the idea of the lamp. So I wrote up some surveys which I asked crumpeteers to fill out. The results were a mix of concepts I was already aware of, and absolute gold. Though I felt I couldn’t do anything with a lot of the gold. One respondent described kissing a lover on the nape of the neck. I knew this was something which is incredibly sensual and gentle, but I couldn’t rationalise a form or idea which demonstrated this very personal but common practice. I thought about creating long exposure shots with glow in the dark body paint or LEDs attached to the skin to provide a path to and from the neck, but these were methods of achieving something so far strung from the idea that it couldn’t be reasonably interpreted.
From my own build up of knowledge and thoughts from the survey, as well as a concept of where I wanted to head, with Kate, we figured out a life plan. This was basically a way of mapping the ideas which were already bouncing around and restricting where I wanted them to go. We sorted out the plethora of thoughts and realised them in a mapping manifesto which resulted in aims of passion, expression, unification, participatory, and using lace as a material.
Participatory design was a concept which confused me. I now know it’s where the user has a say in the design process, and in a way it’s asking the people who will use it to shape what ti will become. I initially thought it was a way of designing the object to integrate the users own desires later on in the process. In this way I dreamed of a lamp which would be shaped by the user to something which was sensual for them, as I knew that sensuality is something extremely personal. I thought of a resin which is impregnated in the fabric and then is set with a spray of catalyst. I knew of superglue which worked on this chemistry, but couldn’t find a cheap, non toxic alternative for me to try. Alternatives were sandwiching wire to the fabric to allow it to be shaped. However these ‘designs’ skipped the step of actually being designed. It was as if I was giving up on finding something universally sensual that I was leaving it up to the user.
Eventually I saw this road leading to slack design, and almost cheating. I knew that I either went down this road or left it completely out of the final design and I chose the latter.
With the new aims of passion, expression, unification, and using lace as a material; I set out sketching my ideas. I loved this part, as I decided I would not restrict myself to fine liner and markers, or pastels and so experimented with other mediums such as Jovi, single colour pencils, charcoal and paper sculptures. I was melting my previous experience of lace, material, form, function and the idea together in my sketches. I really wanted this Gestalt, and to achieve it, I knew that I needed to move to the real thing.
With previous thoughts of participatory design in mind, I scouted around for techniques to fix material. I didn’t want to change the colour or the diffuse nature of the material, but I was interested in it being quite strong and stiff. I settled on the least expensive and non toxic alternative, which was PVA mixed with water. Instead of dipping the material into the PVA, which might result in over soaking it, runs, and ticker spots down the bottom, I chose to spray it from a typical gardening mister.
The models began with using no lace and draping poly pop over two blue foam shoulders. I tried to make the shoulders manlier, with breadth and slightly sloping. I felt it should look like a sheet draped over the shoulders, but the material tended to suck in where there should have been a chest, and the end result looked like a skinny guy wearing a toga. To give it some oomph, I added lace in a bodice type arrangement and draped a sheet over that with some sort of caring a holding action about it. I spent a long time pinning the fabric. In later models I would stretch fishing line over the room pinned to the sheets to create that thrown look.
In the next two experiments I used lace again, and draped thicker material around the body of a lovely volunteer - Susanne to manikin. Although minimally curvy, she gave a subtle womanly air to the now bodice like lamp, and really made it easier to believe that it was a sensual lamp, not a neo-toga like drapery. Her lack of legs also proved useful as the lamps were more compact.
The lighting saga took me to the environment shop in Northcote, where I intended on buying a dimmer, but found that you must also buy a dimming compact fluorescent. In total I worked out that the time and effort to get it dimmable was not worth in. in fact I was overcome by my silliness that I should allow people to change the ambience that I had created. I had departed from my all loving-create-it-how-you-want-to-create-it designer type to the neo Nazi which wants nothing but complete control. It was an all or nothing movement. The result of which is a lack of dimming, and the purchase of a 60W equivalent globe. There were weaker globes available, but I figured I’d need to work with some light before I diffused it.
One of the hardest parts of the home stretch was finding the right colour to match the effect I wanted. I had a rose, orange and red gels. I almost straightaway crossed out the red as too sickly slutty. The orange and the rose both gave nice effects, but nothing which was completely desirable. However, by combining them, and staring at the lamp for hours on end, I have found a mix of the two which is quite effective.
In the final stages of the design process I found the decisions between very similar forms and colour difficult. Two of the lamp diffuser models which I made were quite desirable, but each had its faults. I ended up going with my gut feel (against the view of my female friends). I chose one which had more of an embracing feel to it, and which was not as scrappily put together. I think the quite crude manufacture process has limitations in the final complete finish of the lamp.
Overall I am surprised how much I am still interested in this lamp after spending so long with it. I like the way it hangs seemingly in mid air. I like the diffuse glow, but even more I like the ‘light shadow’ the un-diffused light which falls on the ground underneath the lamp when the light is the only source in the room. In some way it replaces a shadow which would normally be there. The lamp is sensual. Need more be said? That initial aim of reviewing the process fell to second place this time. I know now though, I can’t always want my gestalt from the outset. I need to use materials which my lamp will need earlier, and I need to think more critically about my own work.
Glossary
1: Idea – the meaning or emotional purpose of the object. Achieved through its form, use and function.
2: Gestalt – Literally meaning shape or form. However I use like Betty Edwards uses it (Drawing on the right side of the brain). In her book, Dr. Edwards uses gestalt as the final complete coming together of a drawing. It’s when the steps which have been put in place fall together to produce the drawing - not magically, but because the process works. If gestalt is achieved then the drawing or design process is perfect. Gestalt is the forming of a perfect idea through a perfect process. That’s a very superlative way of looking at something. If you see an object, and you know what the designer wants you to know, that designer has achieved gestalt. I guess some sort of gestalt could be attributed to form as well. Gestalt is personal. For me some droog, Dutch and Scandinavian design achieves gestalt. It’s that feeling in your belly when you know something is uber-cool.
My intention at the start of this project was to examine my design process, and I began in the first 2 weeks with this in mind. I clearly stated that the object would be to know my strengths and weaknesses, what I enjoyed and what I could improve on specifically. Unfortunately through this aim, I lost sight of the project. It was almost as if by examining myself I couldn’t also do the project well. I need to learn about my designing or design, but I can’t do it consciously at once. Below I describe my journey through this project as best I can.
I was sure I had a great idea when I thought about designing a sensual lamp. It was something I knew I would have to nut out, not just a form or an idea1, but a heady combination of the two. With encouragement from Kate, I knew I wanted something unique. I’ve only once produced something (a tape dispenser) I had so much faith in that I couldn’t improve it. But its strength was its form. I wanted this sensual lamps form and idea to be its obvious strengths.
I jumped to quick conclusions with a form and idea. This was because I thought I wanted to have it over with in 2 weeks. The form was simple and intentionally so – I wanted it to be innocent when off and hot when on. The purpose of this lamp was more sexual than sensual, and at the end of the 2 weeks when I decided to carry on with the luminare, I changed this approach.
I was really stuck in a rut of my finality of the design after the 2 weeks. What I had there could be built but was a flawed beautiful idea in that it had the function but not an exciting form. I didn’t realise it at the time, but the final product was just the 2 week progress plus a sexy form change. So what does that say about progress? Two weeks to get somewhere and then another 8 to get a little bit further. Perhaps I need to work another year on it before I have gestalt2.
The sketches followed, with further sexy line-work. Kate suggested I take a larger drawing space and really loosen up. What resulted was a curly thrown sheet form, which I then took into cad and tried to describe in 3D. I guess this side step was a bit of a departure from the aim of producing a lamp – but I was happy to go on a tangent. In the meantime I thought up names for the different characteristics of thrown clothes, which I photographed. Billows are where air is trapped in an area and it catches it like a sail, flickbacks occur when a narrow part (shirt sleeve) is flicked around in the opposite direction to the direction it’s travelling – and there were a few more. I had this idea that shedding of clothes was a very sensual process, however the throwing of clothes is more passionate and sexual, and also reminded Kate of a business shirt which is discarded at the end of the day.
I combined these ideas into a paper Mache model of a thrown sheet, which is similar to the 3D model. I didn’t use this, but it was an interesting way of getting a cool form quite quickly through a reasonably rudimentary method.
It was time to get serious about the idea of the lamp. So I wrote up some surveys which I asked crumpeteers to fill out. The results were a mix of concepts I was already aware of, and absolute gold. Though I felt I couldn’t do anything with a lot of the gold. One respondent described kissing a lover on the nape of the neck. I knew this was something which is incredibly sensual and gentle, but I couldn’t rationalise a form or idea which demonstrated this very personal but common practice. I thought about creating long exposure shots with glow in the dark body paint or LEDs attached to the skin to provide a path to and from the neck, but these were methods of achieving something so far strung from the idea that it couldn’t be reasonably interpreted.
From my own build up of knowledge and thoughts from the survey, as well as a concept of where I wanted to head, with Kate, we figured out a life plan. This was basically a way of mapping the ideas which were already bouncing around and restricting where I wanted them to go. We sorted out the plethora of thoughts and realised them in a mapping manifesto which resulted in aims of passion, expression, unification, participatory, and using lace as a material.
Participatory design was a concept which confused me. I now know it’s where the user has a say in the design process, and in a way it’s asking the people who will use it to shape what ti will become. I initially thought it was a way of designing the object to integrate the users own desires later on in the process. In this way I dreamed of a lamp which would be shaped by the user to something which was sensual for them, as I knew that sensuality is something extremely personal. I thought of a resin which is impregnated in the fabric and then is set with a spray of catalyst. I knew of superglue which worked on this chemistry, but couldn’t find a cheap, non toxic alternative for me to try. Alternatives were sandwiching wire to the fabric to allow it to be shaped. However these ‘designs’ skipped the step of actually being designed. It was as if I was giving up on finding something universally sensual that I was leaving it up to the user.
Eventually I saw this road leading to slack design, and almost cheating. I knew that I either went down this road or left it completely out of the final design and I chose the latter.
With the new aims of passion, expression, unification, and using lace as a material; I set out sketching my ideas. I loved this part, as I decided I would not restrict myself to fine liner and markers, or pastels and so experimented with other mediums such as Jovi, single colour pencils, charcoal and paper sculptures. I was melting my previous experience of lace, material, form, function and the idea together in my sketches. I really wanted this Gestalt, and to achieve it, I knew that I needed to move to the real thing.
With previous thoughts of participatory design in mind, I scouted around for techniques to fix material. I didn’t want to change the colour or the diffuse nature of the material, but I was interested in it being quite strong and stiff. I settled on the least expensive and non toxic alternative, which was PVA mixed with water. Instead of dipping the material into the PVA, which might result in over soaking it, runs, and ticker spots down the bottom, I chose to spray it from a typical gardening mister.
The models began with using no lace and draping poly pop over two blue foam shoulders. I tried to make the shoulders manlier, with breadth and slightly sloping. I felt it should look like a sheet draped over the shoulders, but the material tended to suck in where there should have been a chest, and the end result looked like a skinny guy wearing a toga. To give it some oomph, I added lace in a bodice type arrangement and draped a sheet over that with some sort of caring a holding action about it. I spent a long time pinning the fabric. In later models I would stretch fishing line over the room pinned to the sheets to create that thrown look.
In the next two experiments I used lace again, and draped thicker material around the body of a lovely volunteer - Susanne to manikin. Although minimally curvy, she gave a subtle womanly air to the now bodice like lamp, and really made it easier to believe that it was a sensual lamp, not a neo-toga like drapery. Her lack of legs also proved useful as the lamps were more compact.
The lighting saga took me to the environment shop in Northcote, where I intended on buying a dimmer, but found that you must also buy a dimming compact fluorescent. In total I worked out that the time and effort to get it dimmable was not worth in. in fact I was overcome by my silliness that I should allow people to change the ambience that I had created. I had departed from my all loving-create-it-how-you-want-to-create-it designer type to the neo Nazi which wants nothing but complete control. It was an all or nothing movement. The result of which is a lack of dimming, and the purchase of a 60W equivalent globe. There were weaker globes available, but I figured I’d need to work with some light before I diffused it.
One of the hardest parts of the home stretch was finding the right colour to match the effect I wanted. I had a rose, orange and red gels. I almost straightaway crossed out the red as too sickly slutty. The orange and the rose both gave nice effects, but nothing which was completely desirable. However, by combining them, and staring at the lamp for hours on end, I have found a mix of the two which is quite effective.
In the final stages of the design process I found the decisions between very similar forms and colour difficult. Two of the lamp diffuser models which I made were quite desirable, but each had its faults. I ended up going with my gut feel (against the view of my female friends). I chose one which had more of an embracing feel to it, and which was not as scrappily put together. I think the quite crude manufacture process has limitations in the final complete finish of the lamp.
Overall I am surprised how much I am still interested in this lamp after spending so long with it. I like the way it hangs seemingly in mid air. I like the diffuse glow, but even more I like the ‘light shadow’ the un-diffused light which falls on the ground underneath the lamp when the light is the only source in the room. In some way it replaces a shadow which would normally be there. The lamp is sensual. Need more be said? That initial aim of reviewing the process fell to second place this time. I know now though, I can’t always want my gestalt from the outset. I need to use materials which my lamp will need earlier, and I need to think more critically about my own work.
Glossary
1: Idea – the meaning or emotional purpose of the object. Achieved through its form, use and function.
2: Gestalt – Literally meaning shape or form. However I use like Betty Edwards uses it (Drawing on the right side of the brain). In her book, Dr. Edwards uses gestalt as the final complete coming together of a drawing. It’s when the steps which have been put in place fall together to produce the drawing - not magically, but because the process works. If gestalt is achieved then the drawing or design process is perfect. Gestalt is the forming of a perfect idea through a perfect process. That’s a very superlative way of looking at something. If you see an object, and you know what the designer wants you to know, that designer has achieved gestalt. I guess some sort of gestalt could be attributed to form as well. Gestalt is personal. For me some droog, Dutch and Scandinavian design achieves gestalt. It’s that feeling in your belly when you know something is uber-cool.
posted by ben at 9:50 PM
1 Comments:
what makes it all the sweeter is i just realised this lamp IS the girl in the library. so happy.
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