water droplet chandelier design made from inert Bio Resin with LED light units concealed in droplet casting
Author: Distil Ennui | Post Date: 13-06-2022
Since the very beginning I have always tried to develop pieces that involve their own light source, and the water motif has never been far away from my thoughts. So I finally pressed forward with this modular water droplet that I sketched up almost 2 decades ago. Back on the table and modelled digitally, I created many differing shapes and sizes in 3d and then 3d printed them; all finished to a very high standard; currently using an FDM printer, a resin printer would negate many of the finishing stages to remove all print lines and imperfections. This finishing stage is important as these masters moulds will have silicone negatives made from them, so any imperfections at this stage would be repeated over and over in the final droplets.
From the silicone moulds we are able to test the design in a variety of Bio-Resins, each in a varying quantity of organic compounds - so this is like no other resin you will have seen in the past and not plastic based. The resin becomes fully inert once cured so these pieces can never become harmful pollution at the end of their life and easily recycled, a circular design.
The light source for these droplets (along with the hanging mechanism) is actually cast within the bio-resin droplet itself, so the light and the droplet become one singular unit. This made for a very complex production as it has not been done before to my knowledge. This design greatly reduced the need for powerful light units to be used. Lighting from within, the droplet actually becomes a lens for the emitters used. Each droplet and led combination are highly efficient producing no heat whatsoever and consuming a tiny amount of power; drawing only 3v DC at 8 mA. Their lifespan when used with a quality power supply (constant current, power curve in and out for on/off actuation) they will long outlive myself which has become a cornerstone of any works leaving the studio, they are built to stand the test of time.
The wonderful thing with this design is that each droplet casts an amazing array of different light caustics on all surfaces around.
the tiny 0.6mm led emitters inside the droplets can be in a range of colour temperatures,
seen above in a colour temperature of 2800k.
For now the design is being replicated from 45 master droplet moulds, all very different in size and shape just as they would appear in nature. We will be making 100 in both a natural white and warm yellow light. Once we have 100 of each on the table I shall start work in the hanging design and mechanism, initial thoughts are for an organic element to be introduced like the root system from a small fruit tree hung inverted with the droplets delicately hanging from the branches.
I hope you found this journal entry informative, please stay connected.
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