slide lampshade (process)
I decided to make a slide lampshade. It feels a bit kitschy and it's definitely been done before but I've got my father's wrought iron floor lamp - for years he sat under it reading. He was a life-long lover of books and knowledge so it feels meaningful. First step: opening the plastic and cardboard boxes of slides... then one by one, holding them up to the light and looking at them... then sorting them into categories of subject matter/location/brand of slide manufacturer... then getting a hanging lampshade from Ikea that will work with the existing fittings of the floor lamp.
Initial experiments revealed much... It makes most sense to sort the slides according to slide manufacturer; that at first I thought I could stick the slides directly to the lampshade but the weave of the cloth shows through too much; that four jump rings per slide is not enough to ensure they hang neatly from the lampshade frame.
Then... I thought about painting the lampshade frame but that didn't feel right - it needed something more time and human energy rich. So fifteen hours of wrapping loops of gold wire around a metal frame. Fiddly. Intense. I had to go to Spotlight twice to get more wire. My fingers are so freaking sore right now... I hope this looks good and that all the pain will be worth. I definitely need to get some gold jump rings to match the gold wire. The fake antique colour doesn't look good.
Initial experiments revealed much... It makes most sense to sort the slides according to slide manufacturer; that at first I thought I could stick the slides directly to the lampshade but the weave of the cloth shows through too much; that four jump rings per slide is not enough to ensure they hang neatly from the lampshade frame.
Then... I thought about painting the lampshade frame but that didn't feel right - it needed something more time and human energy rich. So fifteen hours of wrapping loops of gold wire around a metal frame. Fiddly. Intense. I had to go to Spotlight twice to get more wire. My fingers are so freaking sore right now... I hope this looks good and that all the pain will be worth. I definitely need to get some gold jump rings to match the gold wire. The fake antique colour doesn't look good.
And... light shines through the slides too brightly making it unpleasant to look at so an additional inner shade is required. Clean translucent paper does not compliment the aged appearance of the slides. Can I fix that by crumpling the paper or otherwise intentionally aging it? Nope. Use some actual old paper to remain authentic to the archive to line the inner frame.
