Powered by its own solar energy. A chandelier which playfully explores an economy of light through innovative materials. Powered by sapphire-blue solar panel cells, the piece is intrinsically self-sustaining as it absorbs the energy of daylight to fuel its own illumination. The cells have been cut into the shapes of four different breeds of butterfly and these seem to flutter around a central flame-like hand-blown glass bulb, their iridescent wings glinting in the light. The semiotics of this design are highly significant as the butterflies become signifiers of the light’s self-sufficiency; physically, these insects also power their own bodies, using their wings to absorb the rays of the sun, in turn raising and sustaining their own body temperatures to that which is necessary for their survival. DEMAKERSVAN
