Focusing on Light
Dates
2023 - 2024
Focus
DIY Projects
Location
New York City
London Graffiti Tunnel Ring Light, 2023
Unique lighting fixtures always catch my eye, and even if on a small scale, I like to try my hand at DIY'ing lighting fixtures.
I created this lamp as a gift with simple materials -- balsa wood, zip ties, twine, and ribbon.
I cut and stained the balsa wood pieces before gluing them together to create the bench. I covered up the light sockets with ribbon and glued on the twine arms and legs. I then stripped the wires and created series circuit between them, so that a single plug would turn both lights on.
My favorite part of this project was designing the bench. I enjoyed finding what the most comfortable proportions would be for my light bulb humans.
Made February 2024
My next DIY lamp, showing "rebar" coming out of concrete, was the result of my desire to work with different materials.
A few years back I read Built by Roma Aggrawal, and was inspired by how much flexibility reinforced concrete afforded architects and the development of the overall built environment. Again, although on a tiny scale, I wanted to be able to work with and display this composite material.
This lamp is made from Quikrete and garden stakes (aka the "rebar"). I took a rectangular mold and put some sand inside of it to create the shape of the negative space (where the light is now). I secured the socket in the sand, and then poured concrete over top of it. I ran the wire through the back of the concrete and let it harden.
A few days later it was ready to come out of the mold! I brushed away the sand, screwed in the Edison bulb, crossed my fingers and turned it on. I enjoyed getting to see the process of the concrete cure around the metal and sand.
Made May 2024