Provoking Magic: Lighting of Ingo Maurer
Originally published in Smithsonian’s The Torch, Dec. 2007
Something is amiss at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum—just ask the animated hanging portraits of Andrew and Louise Carnegie that whisper to visitors as they enter “Provoking Magic: Lighting of Ingo Maurer,” on view since Sept. 14. “Look at what they have done to our villa,” hisses Mrs. Carnegie, to which her husband calmly replies, “It was time for a change, Louise.” The portraits, which feature eerie moving eyes and mouths, are one of several site-specific installations conceived exclusively for the exhibition. Most likely, the Carnegie Mansion’s former occupants would be delighted to see how the second floor of their home has been transformed by the celebrated German lighting designer’s work. “Provoking Magic,” Maurer’s first solo exhibition in a U.S. museum, chronicles a 40-year career marked by ingenuity and international success, both in art and commercial markets.
Maurer and his creative team have illuminated Cooper-Hewitt’s wood-paneled galleries with light sculptures and fixtures constructed from materials as diverse as license plates, plastic fruit, and live goldfish, infusing each space with the designer’s signature wit and humor. In the center hallway, two large vitrines containing models, sketches and machetes offer visitors a window into Maurer’s creative process. Though exactly what that process is, Maurer is hesitant to pin down. “I have no straight route to follow in working with light,” says Maurer. “I just want to explore it, and explore different aspects of it—the spiritual aspect, the technical, both together.” While most people think of light in terms of the object being lit, Maurer treats it as a dimensional object. He admits he has “a big, great love of light as a material.”
The ephemera inside the vitrines, or what Maurer refers to as his “little pieces of inspiration,” reflect his penchant for incorporating both everyday materials and unexpected objects in his designs. Paper, for example, is one commonplace material that Maurer uses frequently, with results that are far from ordinary. His series of one-off lamps, “The MaMo Nouchies,” are created using a Japanese textile-dyeing technique, and pleated paper lampshades are constructed around the bulbs in a way that distributes the light evenly, giving off a soothing glow.
Gold is another one of Maurer’s favorite mediums because of the unique way it catches and reflects light. Suspended in one gallery is “Golden Ribbon,” a dramatic aluminum-and-gold-leaf sculpture that appears to ripple in midair. Light escapes through slits in the aluminum, casting shadows onto a table made entirely from wax positioned beneath it. “Maurer looks beyond the lighting object itself and shows how its effect can be transformative and magical,” says Cooper-Hewitt deputy curatorial director Matilda McQuaid. The results are often both unexpected and breath taking—for example, Maurer’s “Lucellino” installation, in which light bulbs are reimagined as a flock of birds in flight, each bulb equipped with a pair of miniature goose-feather wings.
Maurer’s commitment to innovation is apparent in his designs as well, and many of the objects on view utilize cutting-edge light-emitting diode (LED) technology. One section of the exhibition imagines what a living room might look like 50 years from now, complete with “Rose, Rose on the Wall” LED adjustable wallpaper and a virtual fireplace. The first 360-degree hologram ever created appears in “Wo bist du, Edison?” Maurer’s humorous homage to the original 1879 light bulb and its inventor. Using a hidden light source, Maurer creates an illusion of a light bulb that also, when viewed from a certain angle, resembles Edison’s profile.
Having the opportunity to work with a living designer impacted the curatorial approach to “Provoking Magic” significantly. “We had the advantage in working with a designer and his team who had years of experience mounting shows. They were extremely efficient and knowledgeable,” explains McQuaid. Collaborating with Maurer’s design team, the museum’s curatorial staff tackled the difficult challenge of adjusting some of the larger-scale pieces, such as “Symphonia Silenziosa” which features a low-voltage halogen system and dozens of hanging paper sails, to fit the museum’s exhibition space. “Even though many of the pieces have been seen before, they are displayed in such a unique way with Ingo’s special direction, that it is like seeing the pieces for the first time,” says McQuaid. “Ingo has transformed the mansion but has also been sensitive to its architecture and history.”
Let’s hope the ghosts of Mr. and Mrs. Carnegie agree.
“Provoking Magic” runs through Jan. 27. An online version of the exhibition is at www.cooperhewitt.org.