France - Creative design practice Concept K employed 100 Elation SŌL I blinders at the Solidays Festival in Paris at the end of June, one of the first uses in Europe of the creative blinder and effect light. Lighting supply was by Dushow, a festival provider for many years, with lighting design by Frédéric ‘Aldo’ Fayard of Concept K.
Solidays is an annual music festival held at the Longchamp Racecourse in Paris. Organised by Solidarité sida, it brings together more than 150 artists and 170,000 festival-goers for three days with proceeds going to organisations fighting HIV/AIDS.
Aldo, founder and artistic director of Concept K, used the SŌL I blinders to artfully adorn the festival’s main stage, commenting: “Lighting designers have been looking for a source capable of replacing the FL650 and the SŌL I from Elation is the answer to this request.”
Concept K was presented with the SŌL I by Boris Jacob from Elation’s French partner Best Audio & Lighting when the fixture was still only a prototype. “We were a bit reluctant,” Aldo acknowledged, “but we nevertheless agreed to see what this little product had in store.”
Aldo’s first impression was that the power was “quite good”, while the fixture’s dim-to-warm function gave it a “signature neo-retro look”. He also appreciated the ability to produce a multitude of different colours. Jacob further explained that it offers a variety of configuration options and several possible accessories, allowing users to create different looks effortlessly, making it a highly creative, fun, practical, and aesthetically pleasing fixture.
The SŌL I blinder is the first in Elation's new series of LED blinders and effect lights. It offers a broad spectrum of colours thanks to a 250W RGB+Lime+Amber+White LED engine with a CRI of over 93 for high-quality colour reproduction. Wrapped in a durable housing and rated IP65 for use in outdoor environments, the fixture powers out over 9,000 lumens.
“The look of the product is interesting as well because the lens is beautiful,” Aldo adds. “It’s powerful and large, which gives it the ability to decorate and illuminate.” According to the designer, other pluses include its additive colour mixing and the fact that the fixture is an individual blinder and not a set of two, which “may seem obvious, but it’s a real plus and reduces power consumption,” he said. “And finally, and this is not a detail, it is IP65! The benefits in terms of maintenance for outdoor use are substantial.”
In addition to being used as a blinder, Concept K plans to use the fixture for décor lighting purposes. “It will certainly find its place in many other uses thanks to the ability to create various shapes,” Aldo concludes.
