Land+Living: Charlie Davidson

DesignBOT, Designers, Lighting — October 15, 2006 Posted by Adriean

Bringing darkness to 06

I know it's only mid-October, but i'd say it's time to start talking about what made our heads turn the most during 2006.

Hands down for me is designer Charlie Davidson's ominous lighting creation, Black-light. Fabricated from layers of black foil, this gem is like watching an explosion put on pause. You almost want to just stand there and make up your own sound effects while staring at this sculptural beauty.

Though we still have a couple of months left in the year to be impressed, i'm pretty confident this will still be tops for me.

Link: Charlie Davidson

7 comments

Comments (7)

Intrigued — October 23, 2006
Ominou is right

WOW-- how invcentive are these things?? as for practical in a room? woooh.. they can't help but look like they are burned paper wadding from an Alien set or chunks of volano.. ELEGANT not on your life..

Evan Gould — November 7, 2006

Wadded foil lighting? It seems more like a Halloween Haunted House decoration. This is not design, this is a craft project.

Anonymous — November 7, 2006
Craft and Design

What's the difference between Craft and Design then Evan ? To do a 'Craft' project, there is a design thought process behind it. Isn't there ?

Evan Gould — November 8, 2006

I meant that the lights seem "crafty" like a prop or designed for a single-purpose use (haunted house decoration). As opposed to something designed for a more universal application with higher grade materials and processes.

Anonymous — November 8, 2006
Point Taken

I see where you're coming from Evan. Good point. I can easily see how you'd describe it in a 'single-use' application. For myself I think this would be one of those pieces that needs to be seen in person to fully appreciate it.

Adriean — November 8, 2006

One of the reasons this stuck out for me was it's uniqueness both in terms of design and usage of an unconventional material for this type of application. I totally agree with Evan that there is a 'craft' element to it, but in this case I think that it's one of the high points of the lamp. It has a more personal feel to it knowing that this could infact have been fabricated by the designer himself as opposed to a factory. Regardless, my votes still with this design.

Charlie Davidson — November 10, 2006
A piece of hell frozen in space

It's really weird reading all these comments when it's your own creation, design and made by me that they refure too! The lights are made of Black Wrap which is a material used in film lighting to wrap around flood lamps to contol the light spill. The layers of black foil are stacked up on lazer cut stainless steel rings and then sculpted to create a rose like form. They really look incredible in the flesh and better when illuminated as they project streaks of coloured light (reds and oranges)giving a fire like effect. These lights are a product of design and not a piece of craft even though they are hand formed to create the final esthetic. "Like an explosion or eruption frozen in time, the Black-light hangs like an ominous cloud projecting rays of intense coloured light from within it's torn and charred surface".