orchadia light mobile: art + technology come together

October 4th, 2007 comments (2) stumble it! digg it! by: technabob

Sculptor Rodger Stevens and designer Mark McKenna created these flowing modern mobiles which embed elegant modern illumination into their design. Originally designed as a large-scale art installation, a smaller version of their Orchadia mobiles are now available for purchase.

Each sculpture is made of varying sizes of metallic teardrops which hang from the ceiling. A special printed circuit construction technique shapes the illumination system, pushing low-voltage current to super-tiny incandescent light sources.

Amazingly, even though they’re not LED light sources, they’re rated to operate at up to 100,000 hours (about 11.41 years) of continuous use. While the final production version (shown below) is a little less delicate in design than the original installation, it’s likely to be more sturdy in real-world applications.

While one Orchadia mobile is simply stunning on its own, they look even more amazing when hung in multiples. But at $590 each, I’m guessing not everyone will be purchasing numerous fixtures.

[via Blue Ant Studio]

filed under:  design

October 4th, 2007 comments (2): stumble it! digg it! by: technabob