Ethereal Glow

Lead Designers Shanxue Gao

Entry Description

"Ethereal Glow" is a series that reflects on environmental issues. This lighting fixture displays imagined scene where the only remaining mutated marine organisms on the seabed survive in the wreckage of underwater cities after human extinction in the future. Let people feel the depression of such a scene to further consider environmental issues.
Due to human pollution and war, leading to near extinction. Only mutated marine life survive in polluted ocean. These creatures emit a feeble glow, sustaining the ecosystem. I depicted marine life surviving amid city remains, using mutated organisms as lampshades and city remnants as light holders. Latex was used for the lampshade surface, with steel wire as support for its skeleton, making it realistic.
"Ethereal Glow" is inspired by Eastern cosmology, where everything starts from the moon and ends in fish. Human greed for materialism has led to pollution and conflicts. Material possessions, like illusory moonlight, are fantasy. Fish symbolize the suffering of creatures due to habitat loss and pollution caused by human arrogance and greed, leaving a lasting scar on nature. "Ethereal Glow" also portrays an endless cycle where the greed of intelligent beings ultimately brings about their own demise, inflicting disaster upon lesser beings.It makes us wonder if greed has caused endless tragedy of self destruction?

Sustainability Approach

From a material perspective, "Ethereal Glow" have natural latex as an environmentally friendly material for lampshades, which is biodegradable and recyclable. From a structural perspective, each component of lighting series can be individually disassembled to save on transportation costs. From technology perspective, the lamp holder is made of stainless steel material with surface electroplating treatment, which has a longer service life.
"Ethereal Glow" is positioned as a collectible design, with the aim of encouraging people to approach lighting fixtures with an artistic attitude, rather than tools, in order to reduce product wear and waste.