My favourite chandeliers, of all the thousands I’m sure I’ve seen in my quarter century of life, are those found in the lobby-level bar of the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, NYC. Hung from long, fishing filament are hundreds of small glass spheres. These are arranged at different lengths in order to create the shell of one large hanging sphere. The glass orbs hold no lights themselves, instead they merely catch and reflect the light from fixtures shining down from above.
Courtesy of Makoto Tojiki
An artist who has taken this principle to an entirely new level, is Makoto Tojiki. The Japanese sculptor has worked primarily with light as a medium, whether it be through figurative stand-alones, instillations, or kinetic sculptures. This series, named ‘No Shadow’ works on similar principles to those of my chandeliers, but with actual lights replacing the mere reflectors. The end result of this is a fibre-optic effect, with light from the tiny bulbs bleeding up and down the thin filaments, creating a truly brilliant effect.
