3.06.2006

Fortuny lamp:



Perhaps it's obvious that I would like this iconic lamp.
A) It looks like a photography lamp and deflector but much, much cooler.
B) It was designed by Mariano Fortuny, who was born in the ancient Spanish city of Granada, which is located about an hour's drive from my family's apartment in the Mediterranean coastal town of Solebrana and is therefore I place I have visited several times throughout my life.

Although Fortuny was trained as a painter, he became known as a fashion designer, stage-set designer, and lighting technician. His 1907 lamp design represents the early modernist emphasis on industrial materials, functional style and the spatial role of objects. It also makes a compelling modern sculpture. The light is height adjustable and the diffuser swivels to allow for direct lighting or a nice, soft glow. It's a clear embodiment of Fortuny's philosophy: "It is not the quantity, but the quality of light, that makes things visible."

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great philosophy but I am afraid this light makes me think of a giant eye. I would always think it was watching me.

Wes said...

Maybe you could just pretend it's a blind eye.

Bill Norris said...

I'm sort of with Bri on this one. I thought you were coveting studio lighting when I first saw this. It sort of reminds me of the bathing suits in the Sports Illustrated Swim Suit issue: they're really hot, but you never see them in real life.

Wisdom Weasel said...

I like it, but it does sort of look a little like this toy from Star Wars.

Spot the geek in this thread.

Wes said...

You all are missing the fact that studio lighting looks cool anywhere. (As do body-paint bathing suits.) And if it could also work as a special ray gun, then all the better for the lair.