Here’s a new one from British designer and Fab Green favorite Stuart Haygarth whom I love for his ability to transform castoff objects like plastic wine glasses and plastic containers into high style lighting here and here. This time he’s used old prescription lenses to create an enchanted chandelier called Optical.
The 1.5m diameter chandelier, which contains 3,000 lenses from unwanted eyeglasses, was premiered at the Trash Luxe exhibition at Liberty in London last month.
Haygarth has dabbled with recycled eyeglasses before — as seen in the above 2006 stunner that used both frames and lenses.
According to dezeen, Haygarth gets his lenses from from a charity that ships used spectacles to the developing world. I’m hoping this means these are cast-offs of the cast-offs, otherwise it sounds a little odd to take lenses away from the needy to design a high-end light fixture. Note to self to write the ingenious Haygarth myself.
Note: According to the January 2008 issue of Metropolis Magazine, the glasses were those deemed unusable by the charity.
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In paris, the ‘frames’ version was shown at Tools Galerie – truly spectacular
That’s amazing you saw a version installed in person.
I guess I am cynical because I always wonder about where artists like this get their raw materials. Like where do they get all these glass lenses that are all perfectly the same? Certainly not out of dumpster. It is great that he says he gets them from a charity, that collects eyeglasses …but when I donate my old eyeglasses, I’m not expecting them to end up in a chandelier!
This is so beautiful. Who would of thought something that beautiful would come from eye glass lenses.
Beautiful! Nice find Steph…
When I donate old eye glasses I know an optometrist volunteer takes them to third world countries and fits people who cannot afford such luxuries!
That’s great! My eye doctor also collects old eye glasses and donates them as well.
Absolutely hilarious. I honestly can’t believe how cool it looks. Very unexpected.