Lindsey Adelman Studio

back to the website here.

2010-10-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

Michiko Sakano, glass artist

2010-10-27T18:15:00.001-07:00

above Michiko and Adam

Lindsey and Michiko art directing the boys

the studio dream team

2010-10-27T17:54:00.000-07:00

above Bec, Karl + Mary

Mary

Bec

Karl, Bec, Joe + Mary

Karl, Brock, Bec + Mary

building and knitting and paper folding

2010-10-27T16:02:00.000-07:00

the You Make It! chandelier

2010-09-15T20:26:00.000-07:00

below built by The Brick House. Check out the instructions on our site.

It's been fun to hear from all of you who have been inspired to make your own chandeliers!
Thanks apartment therapy, remodelista, and Fast Company.

barnacles

2010-09-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

Prototypes with Bec Brittain the studio's Design Director

Making the Knotty Bubbles

2010-09-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

in collaboration with Michiko Sakano, Kristin Barron and Bec Brittain
exclusively for The Future Perfect Editions
thanks to my friends at the knotting circle, led by designer Kristin Barron

Bec Brittain masterminding the structural rope

glass artist Michiko Sakano, who blows all of the bubbles for our studio; the 23k gold foil we use is made in her hometown in Japan

Kristin overseeing the knottiness.

2010-05-11T06:55:00.000-07:00

video by Patricia Rubinelli

Bubble mock-ups

2010-01-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

We experiment with forms using our custom hardware and plastic bubbles in lieu of glass. Our clients approve the prototype before we build.

2009-08-20T14:55:00.000-07:00

Little creatures

2009-08-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

with Charlotte Brocard
magnets and pockets connect these simple beings with a lot on their minds.
the video

Agnes candelabra process

2009-08-20T10:00:00.001-07:00

We experimented with our chandelier parts to arrive at one modular form to build the candelabra. The final parts are machined and assembled with simple hardware.

metal finishing process

2009-08-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

All of our hardware is finished by hand locally.

the lovely Diana

agnes candelabra commission prototyping

2009-08-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

McMasterpieces show

2009-08-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Experimenting with folded and stitched pages from the catalog.

gold stickers

2009-08-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Finn helps...

with lots of gold stickers in our booth, covered in the Times

2008-07-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

sonjie's opening at gigi's gallery

bubble renderings

2008-07-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

developing branching Bubble chandeliers

inspired

2008-07-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

6-min video of chandelier process

2008-05-13T18:38:00.000-07:00

murrine is a Venetian technique whereby the glassblower takes a solid gather of clear glass, rolls in in color powder and then flattens the sides. They may repeat this a few times. They stretch this gather of glass into a very long, thin form called "cane." The cane then cools a bit and hardens. Then the glassblower chops it into tiny cross-sections, looking like small tiles. These pieces are arranged on a pastorelli, and then a new hot glass bubble is gathered and blown, and rolled into this plate of warm tiles. All the glass is fused together. We then did an experiment of rolling the murrine after the pick-up into 14k gold foil (for kicks) and were delighted when it all clustered to the murrine bits, being the hottest points.

video/about my work

2008-05-04T06:22:00.000-07:00

a 10-minute excerpt from a panel discussion with Carolyn Strauss of slowLab and artist Nava Lubelski in the context of the Slow Design movement. Presented by the Museum of Arts and Design at the Scope Art Fair March 2008. All slides presented in the talk can also be viewed more clearly within my blog date book.

men at work

2008-04-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

ian + finn in studio

a comparision of wabi-sabi to modernism

2008-03-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

Similarities
o Both apply to all matter of manmade object, spaces, and designs.
o Both are strong reactions against the dominant, established sensibilities of their time. Modernism was a radical departure from 19th century classicism and eclecticism. Wab-sabi was a radical departure from the Chinese perfection and gorgeousness of the 16th century and earlier.
o Both eschew any decoration that is not integral to structure.
o Both are abstract, nonrepresentational ideals of beauty.
o Both have readily identifiable surface characteristics. Modernism is seamless, polished, and smooth. Wab-sabi is earthy, imperfect, and variegated.

Differences
Modernism/ Wabi-sabi
Primarily expressed in the public domain/ Primarily expressed in the private domain.
Implies a logical, rational worldview/ Implies an intuitive worldview
Absolute/ Relative.
Looks for universal, prototypical solutions/ Looks for personal, idiosyncratic solutions.
Mass-produced, modular/ One-of-a-kind, variable.
Expresses faith in progress/ There is no progress.
Future-oriented/ Present-oriented.
Believes in the control of nature/ Believes in the fundamental uncontrollability of nature.
Romanticizes technology/ Romanticizes nature.
People adapting to machines/ People adapting to nature.
Geometric organization of form (sharp, precise, definite shapes and edges./ Organic organization of form (soft, vague shapes and edges.)
The box as metaphor (rectilinear, precise, contained./ The bowl as metaphor ( free shape, open at top.)
Manmade materials/ Natural materials.
Ostensibly slick/ Ostensibly crude.
Needs to be well-maintained/ Accommodates to degradation and attrition.
Purity makes expression richer/ Corrosion and contamination make its expression richer.
Solicits the reduction of sensory information/ Solicits the expansion of sensory information.
Is tolerant of ambiguity and contradiction/ Is comfortable with ambiguity and contradiction.
Cool/ Warm.
Generally light and bright/ Generally dark and dim.
Function and utility are primary values/ Function and utility are not so important.
Perfect materiality is an ideal/ Perfect immateriality is an ideal.
Everlasting/ To everything there is a season.
Leonard Koren, 1994

[In my work I strive to capture the Wabi-Sabi while still borrowing from the best of Modernism. For example, the modular, machined hardware of the chandeliers allows for a system to hold the hand-blown, organic glass globes.]

barnacles take over

2008-02-13T08:34:00.000-08:00

about the work

2007-01-23T12:39:00.000-08:00

I have been in the lighting design industry for 10 years, but it was when I was pregnant in 2003 that my personal approach and interest with lighting became clear. I realized I was losing touch with the reason I came into design: the feeling of making things with my own hands and having the freedom to evolve designs when the need or desire was there. I build and experiment in my studio with form and then rely on a team of studio designers, glassblowers, metalworkers, and wiring experts to execute the final product. I continue to be amazed with the transformative power of lighting on any space. My interests are set evenly within design and art and I employ processes of each in every project. The industrial design can begin with narrative or abstracted meaning and the drawings can be driven by formal design principals and repetitive techniques. The great majority of my lighting work is custom and each piece is made in close collaboration with the client's ideas and desires. This is the aspect that was really missing for me in design. Having the luxury to make each piece to order allows me to constantly explore and research and show clients the most recent thinking or sketch models. The challenge and change is there which I realized is essential for me to sustain a fresh interest. This is why I view it as a similar process to my drawings shown in gallery settings, a theme can be taken and played with so many different ways...developing new versions and in doing, generating new directions. I stumble upon new ideas through a hands-on process of making and looking.