Faith Standing lamp

“Faith” was inspired by our need to believe in something. No matter which culture we look at we will find that it is a universal need of human kind to have faith in something: either in himself, or in transcendence or in a religious concept. In ancient times faith was present in people’s homes in the form of sacred symbols. Nowadays, these seem to be fading from our present culture. Yet, we are longing more and more to hold onto something stable and eternal in our ever changing fast-paced and information-packed world. Our lamp, Faith, symbolizes this need. It got its statue-like shape from this idea. The lamp resembles two praying hands, the early symbol of turning upwards. The multiplied pieces indicate that we are all part of aunity pointing towards the same direction. It also reflects upon the fact that we build our own system of belief from our own experience. The hole inside the lamp shows that the essence of this faith is unique for everybody. We need to fill it with meaning for ourselves. In the middle we find emptiness and stillness which help us reach a meditative state. While ancient traditions used small lamps and candles, our”Faith” is different: suiting our modern time it has leds and its size represents the monumentality of faith and transcendence. In the middle we do not find material or light but emptiness, stillness and silence which help us reach a meditativestate. The metal bottom does not only multiply the visual experience but it show our faith is reflected in all our actions and that we are also reflected in our faith. The intensity of the light is adjustable, which expresses the role faith has in our lives: our changeable dynamism, our hopes and the light that shines on our paths. We can look at “Faith” both as a lamp and as a decoration that creates the ambiance for contemplation.

We had a dual purpose with this lamp. On the one part, I wanted to create an esthetic and usable design. On the other hand we wanted to create something to be more than it is, more than only a furniture and object. We would like to communicate with our designs. We do not want to create heartless products, we wanted to create designs which speak to us, which impact us. Stroodesgin has a foundation and purpose to make our objects or designs represent something more than mere materiality. Without a misunderstanding, we do not want to teach or educate. My aim is to create pieces of quality furniture that apart from fulfilling their functions add something to our lives emotionally. I believe that our furniture has an impact on us, triggering feelings and thoughts in us. It effects our well-being and inspires us. Therefore, while designing I make use of my knowledge I gained as a psychologist about the needs and drives of human beings. Besides being conscious during the procedure, I also like to rely on my intuitions. I look at furniture pieces as our partners in life. My goal is to help people realize that these are much more than objects. They should be seen as an important part of our every day lives and should reflect our personality.

The aim is to communicating with people, the world through our design, is to get more orders to accomplish many of my plans and to continue what we have started. In addition, we would like to sell our designs as a product as well, because we did not work so much for it to be in a warehouse or anything like that.

Well, I think my broad and diverse experience of human functioning has shaped my outlook and thinking. The consequence of this is a different kind of vision and perspective, which I also apply in my art. What I did in these tenders is not furniture design in the traditional sense, but a kind of mixture of design and industrial art. Basically, I'm not a furniture designer, I've never claimed that, I'm just a person approaching from a different direction, who uses his previous knowledge and point of view to design. I also study graphics and paint, and this approach appears everywhere in my work. I think that I am a psychologist and an artist at the same time, since both professions require a way of seeing and an approach that is different from the average. I think that what makes an artist is not only his knowledge or his technique, but also his ability to think and express emotions. The fact that he has something to say with his works, which he can express through visual means. In this respect, psychology and art are very similar. The essence of both professions is a change of perspective.

This lamp has three hidden LED circuits: outside, inside and bottom. Wiring these was a huge challenge technically. You can switch and set the LEDs separately or together and the light intensity too by a remote control. That provides extraordinary variation options for adjusting the lights, thus expanding the mode of action from soft mood lighting to full illumination. By the fan-like rotation of the parts it provides a new visual experience from every different angle. This all creates an opportunity for different scattering and display of light. This is also an opportunity to display and express different moods. It is possible to fully illuminate the given room, or to create a slight mood light. The user thus has the opportunity to control his mood, feelings or spiritual attitude at the moment, i.e. he can adjust the lights as he likes for the specific activity he is doing. Be it yoga, gymnastics, reading, relaxation.

I started out by using organic forms that are built up of layers like onion. I transformed these into geometric forms, multiplied and rotated them. I wanted to symbolize that we are all embedded in some bigger unity. As a psychologists we studied the findings on faith, beliefs, metacommunication and sacred objects used in homes. I was committed to creating a piece that did not separate people by institutionalized forms of faith. Focusing on humanity's universal need to believe in something, we wanted to find the commonalities, the parts that connect us at the level of society. It was challenging to focus on the universality of this basic need for faith rather than turning to specific religions. The multiplied and upward pointing elements symbolize that we are all pointing towards unity. It also suggests that we build our own belief system from our own experiences. The hole in it shows that the essence of this faith is unique to everyone. We need to fill it with meaning. In the center we find emptiness and stillness, which help us reach the meditative state. The reflective metal base multiplies the visual experience and shows that our faith is reflected in all our actions and we are reflected in them.