The Electro Craft exhibition made its inaugural debut at this year’s London Design Festival. Conceived of and led by London-based designer Tord Boontje – the show explores the question, “what are electrical products and appliances like when they are not designed primarily with mass-production in mind?” In other words, how would our electrical objects look and feel if the demands of consistency, scale, price, and even client are taken out of the mix. The answer – which Tord begins to explore via the work of an international roster of designers – compellingly invites electrical manufacturers to rethink their standards of conception and production in favor of a more soulful, craft-oriented approach.
Above – UK sound artist and electronic musician Yuri Suzuki took inspiration from the Boomboxes and Ghetto Blasters of ’70s urban youth culture in his creation of Qu’est-ce que c’est (translation – What is this). The result is a beautiful deconstruction of form, leaving us with a pair of working speakers encased in a golden wire frame.
LACUNA…lives up to its name, with its voluminous hollow form serving as stand, shade, insulator and reflector for a chip on board LED light that sits atop its glass structure. Design by Studio Furthermore. |
Yamaha’s new YEV-104 electric violin combines the essential elements of an acoustic violin with a sculptural twist, designed to inpire musicians and audiences alike.
THE SURFACE TENSION LAMP…by Front comes complete with bubble making capability and an LED light that lasts for 50,000 hours. Translation… |
over the course of each lamp’s life it will enjoy three million unique bubble shades.
THE DANDELIGHT…by Studio Drift fuses nature and technology to luminous effect. The fixture’s “shade” is comprised of tiny dandelion seeds which are harvested by hand each spring then painstakingly glued, one-by-one, onto a single LED. |
Poetic Lab’s Empty Memory USB sticks imbue a utilitarian object with a touch soul. Each stick is cast in high-quality 316 stainless steel, hand-polished and finished to perfection. The two styles were designed to evoke the idea of a void or blank space waiting to be filled.
ECLIPSE…by Lina Patsiou takes inspiration from solar rays and the contrast between light and shadow. Gorgeous! |
The Electro Craft exhibit will be on display at 23 Charlotte Road London, through Saturday, October 15, 2016.