May 24, 2006
Lite Brite Gets Frilly
To make its chandeliers, the boys of the Brooklyn neon studio Lite Brite print out a 1:1 scale paper template on which they place off-the-shelf neon tubing. They torch the glass to approximately 2,000 degrees so they can manipulate it to the template’s specs. (Then comes the process of evacuating the tubing so that the […]
To make its chandeliers, the boys of the Brooklyn neon studio Lite Brite print out a 1:1 scale paper template on which they place off-the-shelf neon tubing. They torch the glass to approximately 2,000 degrees so they can manipulate it to the template’s specs. (Then comes the process of evacuating the tubing so that the neon gas may be inserted.) With all that tricky bending and turning, why would Lite Brite make this season’s Swan Chandelier an even more complicated, frilly version of its traditionalist Edison model? Form follows function. Says co-founder Matt Dilling, “It has to do with light output. With more ornament, you pack more tubing footage in the same space. Swan produces twice the amount of light as Edison.” Swan starts at $3,300 for a 24x24x30-inch fixture. Another new development for this ICFF: Dilling says that the company’s chandelier designs now can be produced as two-dimensional sconces.