00008

A three-dimensional sketch of a spherical Akari lantern, but in bent aluminum wire, dressed down from its taut paper sheath to a humble and loose-fitting, used plastic shopping bag, the kind that were once ubiquitous across New York City. The plastic bag is a prosaic reminder of an unmemorable moment, maybe it came from a bodega to carry snacks, or was used by the Korean restaurant to deliver carry-out, but decidedly fated to be discarded immediately. Here, however, the bag lives beyond its intended lifespan and awkwardly but proudly stands on center stage as a pendant lamp. The materiality of the translucent plastic expresses light unlike its paper kin, illumination pools in the wrinkles and the pock marks that formed as the bag was heat-shrunk to better fit its aluminum wire skeleton. The mundane gratitude expressed by the printed graphic "Thank You" message becomes slightly more reverent when emanating light.