This time, I began branching out into lamps that can more easily be rationalized as art. The elephant lamp, however odd, is still clearly traditional enough that most people would find it a bit of a stretch to label it art. My first Ruinations acquisition is a three-foot-tall hexagonal structure made, as far as I can tell, from heavy-duty, orange corrugated paper. (The store also has floor models that are probably twice as tall.) Since its 15-watt bulb makes it a source of no more than ambient light, it's clearly a piece of abstract sculpture, with undulating lines and textures that make aesthetic sense regardless of whether it's turned on or off.

I managed to hold off awhile before returning to Ruinations for another look at an even more abstract lamp/sculpture I'd spied previously. Did I buy it? Of course. How could I not? It’s a futuristic-looking piece in chrome and glass, with a shiny, round, chrome base that sprouts ten flexible, curving...rods, for lack of a better word. At the end of each of these metal rods is a small, cobalt-blue, tulip-like form that houses a little halogen bulb. The adjustable rods make the lamp interactive art, as far as I’m concerned, although so far, I’ve kept them in a fairly conservative spray of more or less symmetrical arcs. (A backup set of white frosted “tulips” makes this an easily customized lamp.) A steadily expanding spiral of thick metal wire runs up the base to complete this Jetsonsesque piece of sculpture.

Another visit to Ruinations yielded another tiny lamp that's also obviously just for show. (By this point, the owners knew me by name, and my friends were eyeing me suspiciously and saying, “You’re obsessed!”) Its base features a pair of addled-looking monkeys among dozens of coconuts, although I bought it in spite of the monkeys, not because of them, even though they sort of match the one on the elephant lamp. No, the selling point for this little piece -- less than a foot tall -- is the shade, which consists of intricately detailed coconut palm fronds fashioned out of glass that glows green or gold, depending on your vantage point. And with a mere 15-watt bulb inside, it sheds about as much light as a nightlight.

In trying to make sense of what I thought was a newfound fascination with lamps as sculpture, I realized that the ‘obsession’ has spanned much of my adult life. First, there was a gift from a friend, an oddball lamp with a yellow wooden pyramid for a base and a big round globe that enclosed the bulb. It was functional, but I also treated it as a piece of latter-day pop art...

newtimesbpb.com | originally published: September 18, 2003

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