The Slamp

We perceive an object’s value based on their expected and/or implied usefulness to us. The objects we choose to collect, interact, and surround ourselves with are important to us because they improve our lives in one way or another. To disrupt the rules and rhetoric of a chosen object is to question its inherent and perceived value. As Nato Thompson writes in Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and Urbanism, “We make the world and, in turn, the world makes us.” When we look upon or use a standard lamp, we expect it to perform in a very singular and particular way. We expect it to use power, to turn on, to stand on its own, and to light whatever we desire. If just one of these expected functions were to be altered, then the lamp becomes entirely new. This new object forces us to step back and question our intentions. To step back from ingrained intentions is to open a door to new and unexpected opportunities of interaction.

Physical “Slamp” build made in collaboration with Quin Crumb. 2021. quincrumb.com

The Slamp. 2019-2021. Poster & Sculpture. 15” x 20” / dimension varies.