At NUDE´08 I am presenting a conceptual and aesthetic research project which looks at materials through five products. The idea is to knit together a variety of materials, de-contextualising them, bestowing them in the process with a new, surprising character and paying special attention to the inherent symbolic aspect of the materials – wire, newspaper, Tetra-Brik containers, blueprint paper and IV drip tubes.
All of the lamps are named after members of my family, representing the notion of tradition passed on by the women in the family, the common thread through the generations:

Rafaela Lamp is the result of weaving together the lamp’s own wire – electricity is responsible for everything here, a tangled form of electricity which shapes the light produced. Rafaela was my grandmother’s name.

Expósito is a lamp made from woven IV drip tubes. It is similar to Rafaela although without the copper wire; the tubing here is empty. Expósito was the surname traditionally given to orphans in Spain.

Concepción is a lamp created using blueprint paper which has been woven together. The symbolism associated with blueprint paper plays a key role here: the conception of ideas. Concepción is my mother’s name.

The waste paper basket and container are what they hold. A waste paper basket made from waste paper and a container made from Tetra-Brik containers. What we throw away into rubbish bins becomes the container itself. Recycling here consists of transforming the waste material – the destruction and construction of elements:

Papelera – the name involves a play on words in Spanish, where the word for waste paper basket (papelera) can also be construed as era papel – “was paper”: a waste paper basket made from woven waste paper. A newspaper, once read, is useless. It is thrown into the waste paper basket and in turn becomes it.

Envasera - Again, a play on words in Spanish where the word for container – envase – becomes envasera – “was container”: a container made from old Tetra-Brik containers. An empty Tetra-Brik is useless; it gets thrown into the recycling section of the rubbish along with other empty containers and becomes a container anew, recuperating its initial role as a container.

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