PROJECT

This project was to design a lamp based on a randomly selected quote relating to light. My design is inspired by the Plato quote, "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark- the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." As the design was based on an abstract idea rather than a specific purpose, the takeaways from the project were more about the interpretation of the idea and the construction technique I chose for the final lamps.

PRODUCT

From the early stages of my concept, I thought of creating two separate pieces, one to represent the "adult" and the other, the "child." I chose the idea of orb-like shapes with three eyeholes each. The child would have an opaque shell but let light out through its eyes, while the adult would have a translucent shell, but blacked-out eyes.

For construction, I decided that a pentagonal dodecahedron would be an aesthetically engaging shape for the shells, as well as allow for easier construction and arrangement of features. The panels are laser-cut 1/8-inch acrylic held together with triangular pins slotted into cuts around the edge of each pentagonal face. The eyeholes are 3D-printed out of PLA with acrylic lenses. The adult hangs from a cord, while the child is mounted on a floor lamp stand.

"Aurmini" is a portmanteau of "aura" and "gemini," meaning "bright twins."