'IN CHINA, THE fluorescent tube is everywhere,' says lighting designer Ingo Maurer. 'It's like a Hopper painting when you go to a restaurant - it's so ugly and strong, but impressive in some way.'
On a visit to Japan, where his career is being celebrated in a touring exhibition at the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Maurer is only too happy to talk about China, a constant source of inspiration. 'I remember 20 years ago when I visited Hong Kong, you had these massive apartment blocks built on the hills at Aberdeen,' he says. 'At night, seen from the distance you had the cold, icy light towers of these apartments, all moving with the flickering of televisions. I thought it was beautiful to look at from the distance, but I wouldn't want to live there. Thankfully, things are starting to change.'
China is the next stop on Maurer's Asia itinerary, with visits to Shanghai and Hong Kong, where he's working on a major artistic project using light. 'We have a contract, so all I can say is it's a large, very surrealistic project for some serious art collectors,' he says.
The Tokyo show, entitled Light - Reaching for the Moon, has visited several European cities, and will move to Osaka after Tokyo. With about 120 items, it gives a comprehensive overview of the award-winning designer's work going back four decades, and features rare prototypes, serially produced lamps and one-off pieces, as well as models, photographs and films.
What sets Maurer apart from other successful designers, such as his close friend Philippe Starck, is that he's chosen to devote himself to just one area of design. But looking at his ingenious hanging bulbs, lampshades made from the most unlikely materials, lights embedded in glass tables with no obvious source of current, and many other startling designs, it's clear to see that for the still sprightly and energetic 74-year-old and his design team, being limited to light hasn't been a problem.
Trained as a typographer, Maurer, who was born on the island of Reichenau in Lake Constance, between Germany and Switzerland, started working in design as a self-taught freelancer while living in the US in the early 1960s. But it was only after his return to Europe that he had the inspiration that truly set him on his path to stardom. Almost like the cartoon symbol, his first great inspiration was literally a light bulb above his head.