"The tassels haven't any importance beyond that of a decorative element added to a curtain," notes Orit Freilich, multi media artist and Shenkar lecturer for the last 26 years. "I decided to take this boring, apparently significant thing, to breathe a new and totally different life into it and mainly to turn it into a practical object- a light fixture." The tassels actually acted as an inspiration for Freilich for the creation of her collection of unusually lit items. These function on the fine edge between art and design and have references to the world of fashion -- from which Frielich comes.These float in the air like stylish tasseled skirts.

 

At the exhibition that opens at Persiscope Gallery in Tel Aviv tomorrow, Freilich is showing some 10 light fixtures designed, as noted, as particularly large tassels (strands tied as ornaments). They are made of strands of silicone-flexible and combined with a new technique with which light is created with LEDs, thus they promise to have a long life. "As a priority, this was registered as pending a patent in April 2012" relates Freilich. The objects are activated without a switch, with the touch of a hand and so what is meant to be the lampshade which protects from blinding light below it turns into the light itself. (TOUCH technology) The original name of the series "Ahiledim" [a play in Hebrew on the word for lampshade and LED light] stems from the word lampshade which is meant to shade some from the source of light, together with the LED lights that are embedded in the cast and embossed silicone.

 

The exhibition will be shown in total darkness so that visitors can enjoy the quality of the unique light from the fixtures. Since some of the walls of the Periscope Gallery are made of glass, Freilich was forced to completely cover them over to seal them off from the outside. The large tassels will descend from the ceiling like an eclectic bouquet. The visitors will enjoy most of the exhibition mainly with head raised, with other light fixtures designed by the artist placed about them, meant for tabletop or bedside, touch activated. These are also intended for sale and are found in every color and shape. Their price stands at NIS 1,895

 

The connection of the above mentioned exhibition with the world of fashion is expressed in two ways says the artist. "First, by virtue of their name [light body in Hebrew], they are meant to be clothed, dressed to empower their presence and beauty. Clothing is worn on a body. More, beyond their form of inspiration born of tassels and the desire to give them a practical role and not just an aesthetic one, these silicone bodies [fixtures] have something about them which recalls skirts or dresses floating in the wind."

 

LIGHT BODIES/FIXTURES, from 9 January-8 February, Periscope Gallery, Ben Yehuda 176, Tel Aviv