Glow Brick

design:
United Kingdom

 manufacture:
United Kingdom

dimensions:
85X85X105mm

colour:
Blue

materials:
Solid acrylic brick

about:
Glow-in-the-dark light bulb trapped in a solid acrylic brick. Recharges from energy in natural light during the day. Glows at night. Made with a real light bulb!

Glow-in-the-dark* pigment trapped inside a real light bulb (just like the ones you have at home). Then the light bulb is encased in a solid block of Acrylic resin. The mysterious optical effect is caused by light diffracting in the tiny space between the glass of the light bulb and the resin, the space forms when the resin shrinks by a tiny amount during the production possess. The polished surface gives a jewel like quality to the object. In a darkened room or at night the Glow Brick comes to life with a tranquil and subtle glow emanating from the pigment inside the light bulb.

*The technical term for the glow-in-the-dark is "photoluminescence" this is a process in which energy absorbed by a substance is released relatively slowly in the form of light.


Why is it you can never find a torch when you need one? The recent power cuts in London and New York, experienced by thousands of people, started designers Sam and Jude thinking. With the memory of glow-in-the-dark toys from when they were kids still fresh in their mind, the designers started a project to create a solar-powered night-light.

“We wanted to encase a glowing light bulb in a clear brick,” says Sam, “but it took a lot of painful trial and error to get the process right.” They took a real light bulb and filled it with a phosphor luminescent powder that Sam says, “is a lot like kryptonite and makes the whole workshop glow.” The result was the creation of the Glow Brick.

The Glow Brick charges up in daylight so that it will glow for up to eight hours in darkness. The energy in natural UV light is absorbed into the bulb and then slowly released as it glows in the night. Its power will fade overnight but then the Brick recharges once it is exposed to daylight again.

The Glow Brick is designed as a fun object which, as Sam jokes, “is never going to replace all the light bulbs in your house.” The designers revel in taking objects and using them in an unexpected way.

The idea of encasing an everyday object in a clear block is similar to putting it into a display case, and so it becomes a piece of art on view.. Its purpose is to be interesting and pleasing to the eye, and as Sam says, “the glowing aspect is secondary.” And the future? “That would be telling,” says Sam.
 

click image to enlarge

Item: 2377

Ask a question


Price:
$75.95

quantity: