Space Rocks
One night in December of 2005 a shower of meteorites speckled the terrain of the upper mid west portion of the United States. It made for an unusual spectacle. There were few that were able to see the grounded meteors as they were cleaned up almost as quickly as they came down. The President “W” boarded Air Force One almost immediately headed towards Chicago. He said that he wanted to see the “shinny space thingies”. The objects phosphoresced a warm glow from the inside and made bright shinning piles as “W” ordered them to be gathered and picked up. They were not sent to any laboratory to be examined for they’re strange, light emitting characteristics or for anything for that matter. Instead, by order of the prez, they were sent to a concrete company in California, ground up, and mixed with cement to make those shinny sidewalks in Hollywood. In response to this odd and unfortunate string of events, I have developed a series of lighting fixtures inspired by the short existence of the ill-fated space rocks.
The material used to create the Spacerocks series is actually carpet backing made from a non-woven nylon which was given to me by Colbond, a Company in North Carolina that specializes in the product. After receiving samples, I began a series of material studies and discovered many interesting characteristics. Most interesting to me was the halo effect which occurs when a light is placed behind the fabric. I found that this halo seems to keep its radial shape even when bending over corners and creases as the viewer moves around the object. I wanted to make something that would exploit this phenomena. I first made the 3 dimensional forms in the program Form Z. This program also allowed me to unfold the object into a flat, 2d shape. I then, digitally enlarged the drawing and printed out what would be my pattern. I cut the shape out of the Colbond material and then refolded and sewed it back into its original shape. The product’s ability as a light diffuser is fantastic. The result is an interesting lighting fixture that engages the viewer phenomenally and can be placed on the ground, on a table, or hung like a pendant.
Space Rocks- Its hard to believe that such a beautiful material with such an affinity for lighting application, was actually made to be walked upon. I stumbled onto this non-woven nylon carpet backing while inspecting a meteorite that had crashed through the wall of a newly carpeted room in Chicago.
The material used to create the Spacerocks series is actually carpet backing made from a non-woven nylon which was given to me by Colbond, a Company in North Carolina that specializes in the product. After receiving samples, I began a series of material studies and discovered many interesting characteristics. Most interesting to me was the halo effect which occurs when a light is placed behind the fabric. I found that this halo seems to keep its radial shape even when bending over corners and creases as the viewer moves around the object. I wanted to make something that would exploit this phenomena. I first made the 3 dimensional forms in the program Form Z. This program also allowed me to unfold the object into a flat, 2d shape. I then, digitally enlarged the drawing and printed out what would be my pattern. I cut the shape out of the Colbond material and then refolded and sewed it back into its original shape. The product’s ability as a light diffuser is fantastic. The result is an interesting lighting fixture that engages the viewer phenomenally and can be placed on the ground, on a table, or hung like a pendant.
Space Rocks- Its hard to believe that such a beautiful material with such an affinity for lighting application, was actually made to be walked upon. I stumbled onto this non-woven nylon carpet backing while inspecting a meteorite that had crashed through the wall of a newly carpeted room in Chicago.
