Early Lighting Projects

Starting in the late 1980s through to the early 1990s Peter Solomon began designing and building lamps and furniture to show and sell at galleries in NY, SF, and LA. The early pieces were very inspired by the ‘industrial’ style and mainly assembled from parts found at hardware stores and junk yards ChordLamp and ElecLamps are a few examples. Over time he began to also cut and weld more complex and refined pieces as illustrated by the pyralamp. Early experiments in user interaction were toyed with with a lamp (not pictured) made from an electric car antenna mechanism mounted to a base with a simple circuit board in sight. When a noise was picked up the antenna would extend and a halogen bulb at the end would illuminate, when another noise was heard it would shut off and retract, causing almost ‘living’ interactions with laughing observers. The IllumChair was a 7’ chair with a halogen light at the top, which would illuminate when one sat down and turn off when one got up creating fabulous interactions. You would always notice one’s addition or absence from a gathering. In a two person situation you had a direct beam of light romantically overhead, and in a large group you had a bright halo over the room.