Glowing Cactus

Since I am born in a little village in China, I grew up with a rarely touched natural environment. Running behind fireflies in the darkness during summer days, I always try to catch them. But when I have caught them, they stop to light up. In my graduation project, I tried to symbolize the shining fireflies by a special light installation. I choose the cactus as the container of the light. One reason for this choice is that fireflies and cactuses are both natural creatures. A second reason is that both of them seem to prefer being untouched. Trying to touch or catch the fireflies makes their existence in danger, while a cactus protects its main body with spines. Besides this poetic concept, I also left the question to the viewer, asking if this is destruction to nature or not. 

Firstly, I have to poke a little hole in the cactus to construct the LED lamp in the cactus. Some people think this is a torture of the cactus, which is also what I thought in the beginning. Hence I decided to ask a cactus specialist for help. Our collaboration with the specialist went well. I have learned a lot about the growth of cactus and that the little hole in the cactus won’t let the cactus die. There is already an existing technique to put fake flowers on the cactus, and then using special sand to cure the wounds.

I have tried a variety of led lights as well as some new designs about the relative positions between the light and the flower. The flower is a camouflage of the light including the battery and it should be really small. To ensure a small power source in the flower, a button cell is used. These ‘LED flowers” are handmade and it requires a lot of precision.

HKU graduation exposure 2017

Dutch Design Week 2017, Design Perron