PRIMARY RESEARCH ( Lighting and Experiments )

 The aim of the primary research was to find out - 

- what defines contemporary lighting and how could I design a product that was different then any already in the market?
- What is more preferred contemporary or traditional lighting?
- Why have artists used particular materials and techniques for there work and how could this be relevant to my final design?

To gather this research I visited a number a retail stores including Stockton's, Rapids and Utility.                
                                                        
Stockton's Designer Lighting - Specialises in more unique and luxury lighting, suitable for a dining area or a space in which the light would be the main focal point. I looked at two chandeliers at Stockton's which where quite expensive, yet both beautiful designs. I particularly liked the form and structure of the chandelier on the left. 

Rapids - .Whilst observing the lighting at rapids I made notes of materials I had not considered using for my design such as adhesive mirror ( light bulb ) or types of transparent fabrics. I also noticed the lighting section at rapids stocked more contemporary products which shows they are more likely to sell then traditional lighting.

 Utility - products come from Italian and Danish manufacturers including Artemide, Flos, Foscarini, Lightyears, Tom Dixon, Kartell, Mooi, Bestlite and Luce plan.

The Ecos Lamp - lampshade is covered in authentic white feathers allowing the light to shine through. It fits onto an existing ceiling pendent so there's no electrical work involved. It can also be mounted on a table or floor lamp base too with an adapter. 

 

 

 
This pine shaped lamp is also similar to the Ecos lamp as it can be attached as a pendent or mounted on a table of floor lamp. It is made from a polypropylene material which is a suitable type of plastic for lighting, It is presented in a small carrier box and has been designed to be assembled in 20 minutes. The ceiling rose or pendent for the lamp can also be bought separately.  



High street stores - use exclusive designs and lighting to enhance spaces or make them appear more spacious. It was interesting to see if the research I did previously on light in architecture was connected to the interior spaces at the stores.  

Bluecoat Arts Centre Liverpool - Installations 
Beatrice Haines - Heavenly Bodies IT,2010 Backlit scanning electron micrograph 66x85cm 

This was an interesting installation which uses a scanning electron microscope to produce images of a desired sample Electrons interact with atoms in the sample, producing various signals that can be detected and that contain information about the surface topography and composition.

Marlene Oliver - Family Portrait ( Mum and Dad ) 

2003, Screen prints on clear acrylic, Bronze rods, 

 192x70x50cm each 

The artist demonstrates a family portrait in a 3Dimensional form. The concept seems simple and creates and amazing outcome. Looking at this gave me an idea to design a light fixture using phosphorescence material (glow in the dark) to replace the bronze rods and possibly use different shaped acrylic sheets.

 

My experiment's where created using a prism and mirrors to reflect natural light rays through a window. The mirror reflected a bright clear light which was effective. I also found this worked well with artificial light and will potentially use a mirrored material for my final design. The prism experiments where based on Newton's prism theory which uses a clear block to convert white light into a multi-colour light. These also worked really well but needed a lot of light to create the effects. The artificial light did not work so I decided not to develop this particular experiment.