Ingo Maurer
Why is the spotlight constantly on Ingo Maurer? He has won countless awards and is one of the brightest talents in his field. The press routinely describes him as a magician and poet of light.
What's his story? Ingo Maurer was born in 1932 on the island of Reichenau in Lake Constance, which straddles the border of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. He trained as a typographer then, between 1954 and 1958, studied graphics in Munich. In 1960, ambition took him to the United States, where he worked as a freelance designer in New York and San Francisco. His first big flash of inspiration came while staying at a Venetian guesthouse midway through that decade. The sight of the bare bulb dangling from the ceiling suddenly made him realise that artificial light, which we take for granted, is actually a miracle. He saw the humble bulb as 'the perfect synthesis of poetry and industry'.
What did he do next? He returned to Munich and devised a tribute to Thomas Edison's creation - a large bulb-shaped lamp named after the item it mimicked. Showing off this oddity at some furniture shops snared him several commissions and encouraged him to found the production outfit Design M in 1965. The following year, the Museum of Modern Art in New York included the Bulb lamp in its Design Collection.
What is he most famous for? YaYaHo (1984), a radical system of low-voltage halogen lights with shades and mirrors, which can be mounted interchangeably on slender conductive cables. Sophisticated and silly like its name, YaYaHo has been widely copied - a case of imitation as the sincerest form of flattery perhaps. Another highlight is his 1992 lamp, Lucellino, a winged bulb equipped with a touch-sensitive dimmer.
What has he done recently? The Unicef Crystal Snowflake (above), a five-metre outdoor chandelier sparkling with 12,000 glittering crystals. It attracted widespread praise when it was hung late last year at the junction between Fifth Avenue and 57th Street in New York. Maurer hoped it would 'brighten the world for children'.
What is his design philosophy? He has no time for marketing, which he regards as a dirty trick, and thus employs no marketing department - he prefers his work to do the talking. Even so, he says, 'I love lightness and transiency. A thing should not stand like a block of concrete, like a monument for eternity. We are successful when we induce an emotion in the hearts of the people.'
Where in Hong Kong can I buy his work? Modern Life, 26/F, Tai Sang Commercial Building, 24 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai, tel: 2529 2936.
