Lantern
3rd July 2017
A glowing crystal lantern

After several years of setting up and breaking down the Mystic Hookah I wanted to make a piece of light art that just stayed built. This lead me to the idea for the lantern. Designed to hang from a hook or low stand and plug in, it’s a small-ish glass scuplture constructed from various vases and cut class plates I picked up at thrift stores, along with some miscellaneous hardware, and lit from within with programmable LEDs. Both the storage and transport of the lantern also required me to build a solid box in which to hang it. This box, which was surely over-engineerd, also served as an excellent construction scaffold while I was building out the lantern. I definitely couln’t have finished this probject without that setup, but after spending some time soldering on my back with my head stuck into the box I can’t say I really recommend it.

This project also represents a significant step forward in terms of animation technology in my work. I ended up mapping out the positions of all the pixels in real world space and building animations in those terms. That really helped me to achieve the look I was going for and is probably going to be my primary approach to this kind of thing going forward. This is also the first time I’ve experimented with multiple different animations in a single project and I quite like the way that worked out as well. There are really only two modes, one quite bright and the other a bit darker and more organic. Having the lantern switch back and forth between those modes significantly ups the visual interest, especially when it’s tucked into the edge of the forest at CriticalNW.

A create, open on the sides, built with 4x4 vertical beams, thick plywood, and metal braces.
I needed a pretty solid box to use as a scaffold
A notebook page with a diagram of the lantern. A wire passing through a washer sits on top.
Cable pass holes in the support washers
An open notebook with a diagrom of the lantrn. A pencil and a pair of LED rings, one large, one small, sit on top.
The main light rings for the cap of the lantern
A clear, textured vase with LEDs shining inside, laying on its side on a messy desk with some electronics.
Testing the central lighting insert
A view inside the crate, with the glass cap of the lantern and central support bolt hanging inside.
Starting to come together
A view inside the crate, with the lit up glass cap of the lantern hanging inside. The lights are rainbow colors.
Cap lighting test
A view inside the crate, with the mostly assembled lanter lit up with rainbow colors hanging inside. Electronics hang from the lantern and sit on the floor of the crate.
First full lighting test
A view inside the crate, with the mostly assembled lanter lit up with rainbow colors hanging inside.
Now with mounted electronics
The crate, with 3 sides closed, sitting in a parking lot. The lantern hangs inside, braced by a 12 pack of toilet paper. Tools sit on top of the crate.
Packed and ready for travel (TP for padding)
The brightly glowing lantern, hanging from a small shepherd's hook in the forest, with ferns, trees, and moss in the background, during the night.
In its natural habitat (and hard to photograph)
The gently glowing lantern, hanging from a small shepherd's hook in the forest, with ferns, trees, and moss in the background, during the day.
A nice daytime shot in the forest at CriticalNW
The lantern, brightly glowing blue and pink, hanging in a fancy, circular, wrought iron plant stand on a condo balcony, near a plant, at night.
In its storage spot on my balcony
The lantern hanging in the plant stand on a balcony, glowing gently, withe the sunset in the background.
I really loved having it light up every evening
One of the animations in action