Called ‘Hanging Around: Modern and Contemporary Lighting from the Permanent Collection’, the exhibit will run till October 10, 2010. Donna Corbin, the curator in charge of the exhibit, said that each light fixture was chosen on the basis of innovation either in the design or in the use of materials or in demonstrating a new way of using a particular material.
The ‘Tears of the Fisherman (Lacrime del Pescatore)’ by Ingo Maurer features three layers of nets containing 35 teardrop-shaped faceted crystals, sparkling in a shaft of light from a nearby light bulb. ‘Wo bist du, Edison? (Where Are You, Edison?)’ lamp, another creation of Maurer is a halogen bulb lamp featuring a hologram image of a light bulb in its transparent shade. The light socket of the bulb is said to be shaped like Edison’s profile.
Poul Henningsen’s PH Artichoke Lamp is an elaborate design that includes little flaps, lending a resemblance of an artichoke. The exhibit also features three mammoth paper lights by Isamu Noguchi that are named as Akari, which means ‘the light of illumination’ and ‘the essence of lightness’.
Corbin added that while these lamps are being presented as a work of art in the exhibit, most of the designs are derived from common forms of light used in everyday lives.
