The ghost might be sad but you won't when he's lighting up your desk or room. Prolific Canadian artist Marcel Dzama had this irresistibly cute lamp called The Saddest Ghost available at the Giant Robot store. Its gone now. Already a brilliant illustrator with a brilliant style, who knew the man could design lamps as well?
Austrian crystal purveyors Swarovski have been busy getting themselves noticed in recent times. Retail installations at places like MOSS and Bergdoff Goodman in New York to collaborations with B&B Italia and Stella McCartney, and holding frequent exhibitions at many big funiture and design fairs. Getting big names to reinvent the chandelier with their crystals certainly helps too. Luminaries in the design world like Tord Boontje, Hella Jongerius, Tom Dixon, The Campana brothers, Vincent Van Duysen, Marcel Wanders, Ron Arad, Yves Behar, Matali Crasset, Ingo Maurer, Karim Rashid, Tokujin Yoshioka, Gaetano Pesce, Tobias Wong, Jurgen Bey, Naoto Fukasawa, Ross Lovegrove and surprisingly, Lenny Kravitz. Yes the musician. Phew, and that's just the more familiar ones I recognise.
Its the sheer number of names and the relatively short timespan that's shocking. Most furniture companies come up with new pieces each season, maybe twice in a year. Swarovski is putting new chandeliers out like every few months. Sure, some of the exhibitions recycle previous works and designers but still, the output is phenomenal. And with all these big names involved, you're getting an intense amount of quality as well.
Tokujin Yoshioka's Stardust, arguably the most famous of all the collaborations is pictured above.
Ok everyone's going gothic/baroque and stuff for interiors! I wanna be trendy too! Satisfy your new lighting urges with a chandelier then! Everyone's hanging one! Its THE latest must have accessory for all the bleeding edge creatives.
Alright! So now where do I get one of those de riguer chandeliers you see in every ultra hip joint/office/lobby/morgue at the moment? Why, Brand van Egmond of course!
If they have a full page ad AND an article in FRAME, they can't be half bad right? Who cares! Its just too difficult to find antique ones and rework them in ultra trendy bold single colour paints anyway! I recommend Flower Power, one of their latest creations. To not buy a chandelier this week is to be behind times. Better get on with the evolution. Chandelier your life NOW!
