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Dizzy Torchiere
is a floor lamp. Its
simple attributes have
been tuned over two and a
half years until their
combination met the full
design intent: To create
a lamp of high mechanical
integrity, aesthetically
integrated from the top
to the bottom and from
the bottom to the wall
outlet. The materials
for Dizzy Torchiere were
carefully chosen to
embody balanced doses of
visual interest and
usefulness. The handful
of internal parts too
were carefully selected
to continue the simple
integrity where it cannot
be seen.
Dizzy Torchiere is made
primarily of mild steel
and copper. Their
surface colors result
from reaction with
airborne oxygen, and in
the case of the steel,
additional influence by a
chemical reagent. If
these materials had their
druthers, they'd continue
to react with oxygen
forming oxides; iron and
copper, and return slowly
to the earth. To ensure
that they don't get there
too soon, their surfaces
have been sealed with
carnauba wax, the hardest
of the natural waxes.
Periodic re-application
of carnauba wax will hold
the oxidation process in
check. The heart of
Dizzy Torchiere is the
halogen gas filled
parabolic-reflector bulb,
which projects energy
only in useful
directions, such that the
bell outer surface is
maintained at a
temperature comfortable
to the touch.
Casting light indirectly,
upward, Dizzy Torchiere
responds to perturbation
by gracefully swaying,
and all the while holding
its bell high, not
entirely unlike Mr.
Gillespie did.
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