ZABRISKIE PORTABLE LIGHT

  • Prize
    Winner in Lamp
  • Designer
    Rachel McGovern
  • Other Credit
    Lincoln Chen
  • Photo Credit
    Matt Gaillet
  • School
    Art Center College of Design
  • Location
    Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • Project Date
    19/04/2022
  • Project Link
    view

Light on the Move was the design brief for this project. Focusing on nomadic lighting that accompanies you from space to space, from indoor to out and that moves you.

Inspired by the landscape in the iconic 1970 film Zabriskie Point by Michelangelo Antonioni. The Lophocereus Marginatus or more commonly known as Mexican Fencepost Cactus scatter the Mojave desert. This handsome cactus has tall, columnar trunks and reaches heights of twenty feet or more. It produces clusters of stout, cylindrical stems that resemble a pipe organ. The plant’s common name is derived from the fact that in many villages and towns of Mexico it is used to construct a living fence, mainly along roadways.

The cacti form a metaphysical backbone within the Mojave desert, a spinal connection that helps define the imagery of wonder of the Southwestern United States. I wanted to embody this form into a light. With the focus on the ribs and light quality color.

I also wanted the light to be producible under certain means. With my partner in Shanghai, we were able to have the form be completely 3D printed and tinted the exact color to give off a warm west coast glow.

Bio
Rachel McGovern is a sculptor and designer based in Los Angeles, CA.

“By exploring interactions of form, I am building an archive of work that plays amongst ideas of minimalism, tactility and ornamentation. The objects I make become interactive sculptures for everyday use through the consideration of material and design. The performances between human and object and between object and human are key to the construction of my work. Viewers become collaborators, as their visual reaction and use of each object is the ultimate product of my work.”

Other prizes
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts fellowship LAMP International Lighting Design Competition