Conductive melted alloy surface
One method of creating a new material application begins with questioning the primary use of a commercial product. In Form of Light Force Transmission, Japanese designer Kouichi Okamoto reinterprets the conventional use of solder, a low-melting alloy used to connect fusible metals. Rather than join electrical wires together, Okamoto creates expansive surfaces with solder by methodically dripping the molten material over a large wood panel. Once the drips cool and fuse together, the designer attaches the solid alloy sheet to a vertical frame. The softly blurred mirror surface—reminiscent of pointillist imagery—is also a highly conductive plane, and Okamoto takes advantage of this by running an electrical current through the solder sheet to power connected lighting.
Contact: Kyouei Design, Shizuoka, Japan.
For more information, see Transmaterial Next: A Catalog of Materials that Redefine Our Future
