in 2006, manufactured by Element Design, Austria, chromium plated metal, forty pairs of mirrored sunglasses, height each approx. 58 cm, diameter approx. 41 cm, no guarantee for electrical fittings. (MHA)

When the lamp is turned off, the lenses are reflective. When the lamp is on, they are translucent and play with the shadows in their surroundings. From a limited series. With original packaging and instructions for use.

“The purchase of forty pairs of sunglasses at Vienna’s Naschmarkt in the winter of 2006 made the vendors’ hearts beat faster, for they speculated there would be some new, yet unidentified market for mirrored sunglasses. The glasses were used to build the prototype of a lamp that was finished just in time to be shipped to Milan over night and installed at the SaloneSatellite the next morning. From there, the lamp travelled to London, where it was exhibited in the context of 100% Design. After stopping over in Vienna for Vienna Selected Design, the lamp moved on to New York, where it was on display at the ICFF. There it was discovered by a Wallstreet banker, who was about to found an interior design label called Deeply Mad Living. In addition to an American version, he had 300 lamps produced for the European market by a Vienna-based light factory. When Lehman Brothers crashed, his capital also vanished into thin air, and some 30 lamps remained in Vienna. In the meantime, the prototype continued its journey, from the Blickfang design fair in Zurich to Tokyo and Paris. The tour ended at the US customs duty office, from where the lamp was sent back to Vienna in a cardboard box half the original size, completely taken apart.” (Stephan Breier in 2021)

Lit.:
Design Inspiration, DAAB, 2007, pp. 618/19