Exhibition organisers have recognised that the combination of style and efficiency embodied in Bruges' Light Garden will be a major draw for the show and a groundbreaking example of low energy technology. Jason Bruges has designed a fully interactive, dimming garden of light, which at its brightest will dazzle observers with its intensity whilst consuming a fraction of the energy of its exhibition neighbours. The installation is presented as part of Kinetica's latest group show - In Flux.
In addition, a completely new type of energy efficient bulb, produced by small scale manufacturer Varilight, will feature in the installation. The bulb has been shortlisted in the category of 'most innovative lighting product' at the 100% design London awards. For the first time, this Varilight Compact Flourescent Lamp (CFL) can be used with household dimmer switches - (there is special circuitry inside the lamp which stops most domestic dimmer switches from switching off when presented with the low load of a dimmed 20W CFL) - hugely increasing the practical application of CFLs in the home.
"When we heard that our interactive garden of light had been moved to the front of house position, we knew we were involved with something big" said Louise Molloy, climate campaigner at Greenpeace UK. "This project is gathering a momentum all of its own, and to hear that Varilight have been shortlisted for an award because of their new fully dimmable CFL proves that this invention is really putting the big manufacturers to shame."
Varilight is a small, UK-based company headed by Tony Doyle. They are thought to be the first manufacturer in the world to have developed a technique for producing fully dimmable, CFL bulbs - that is bulbs that will dim over the full range that a consumer would want, from 2.5% to 100% brightness and which will even switch straight on at the lowest brightness. They estimate that each bulb will save the consumer over £100 and more than half a tonne of carbon dioxide emissions over the course of its lifetime. If every UK retailer stopped selling incandescent bulbs, the country would save enough energy to close two whole power stations.
"Take two light bulbs giving the same output, both dimmable. One uses a fraction of the power of the other. Why on earth would you use the greedier one? We hope you enjoy our green fingered work in support of Greenpeace's climate change campaign," says Jason Bruges.
(Jim Evans)
