Irish designer Patrick Stevenson-Keating made these innovative lamps using Bare Conductive‘s nontoxic electrically conductive Bare Paint suspended in oil for the 2012 Milan Furniture Fair. Tilting the lamps so that the Bare Paint makes contact between the two electrodes extending from the bulb turns the lamp on. To turn the bulb off, you just rotate or tilt the lamps until the paint is no longer making contact.
From the artist’s site:
Liquidity is a new set of imaginative, exploratory table lamps marrying the modern material technology of conductive ink with hand blown glassware.
Inspired by the potential of BARE conductive ink, and curious to explore an alternative use for this new material, I aimed to exploit its properties in its crude liquid form.
The fluid nature of the ink creates a wonderfully playful and subtly charming interaction, whereby tilting the lamps makes/breaks the circuit as the ink flows between the metal contacts. This is a true visual representation of basic electronics at work, as well as being a beautiful piece in its own right.
Every element of the Liquidity project has been carefully handcrafted. After coating the inside of the glass with a hydrophobic solution, transparent oil is added to act as an insulating substance. A measure of liquid conductive ink is then inserted, forming the switch contact. The oil allows the ink to remain liquid, and ensures the ink stays in its globular form.
The bulb holder had to be hand made from custom rubber bungs, allowing standard ES screw type bulbs to be used.
Bare Conductive had a great booth at Maker Faire Bay Area last year, leading hands-on activities featuring their products, like making light-up greeting cards. They’ll be back again this year, May 18 and 19, in the Startup Zone in Expo Hall. Looking forward to seeing what they have in store. Check out the tutorials page on their site to see how-tos of projects you can make with Bare Conductive. Also, scope their community page to check out how others have creatively used Bare Conductive.
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