Textured Transluscent Plastic is a very curious material. With a light behind it, the material seems to glow as a smoky monsoon of diffuse radiance. A laser through it will diffract into chaos, but a laser through two layered sheets will instead spread into constellations.
But how to build a lamp of it?
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| I wanted a sphere, but all I got was this stupid icosahedron. |
Originally, I wanted to see if I could get the lamp to float, perhaps held aloft in a fan, or somehow using magnets. Ultimately, the imperfections in construction made these plans impossible; a fan will not hold it up much better than it would hold up a cheesecloth.
That said, the construction is hours away from a semi-permanent home above my bed.
Behold, a 3-photo tour-de-force of its construction:
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| What remained of the light once it hatched |
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| The light, clamp, and grate, without the diffusing shade |
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| Late construction, hanging on an assembly of flag poles, floor lamps, and wall masks |
Parts used:
- 1 yard of textured transluscent plastic
- Clear tape
- Garage lamp (deconstructed)
- Grate from a kitchen strainer
- Clamp to hold the lamp parts, and rest the strainer atop it
Ideas for improvement:
- Stronger tape and more precisely cut parts would help it keep its shape better
- A metal frame would give the object some solidity, though it would make fan-floating plans nearly impossible
- A helium balloon within it might still be capable of making the lamp weightless
- Rather than using a light bulb, a laser mounted to a small fan on the inside would create a really interesting strobe-like effect. Unfortunately, there were issues with all fans I tested this idea on, but I'm sure it's possible. Even better if you could get a laser rotating through multiple spatial dimensions.
- There are far more interesting 3-D geometric shapes one could build.
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| Can someone say "rhomboidodecahedron"? Because I can't... |
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