Chandeliers By Carolina Fontoura Alzaga
on 15/2/11
The Trend Boutique like the ingenuity behind these chandeliers and how they fit with our previous Austerity trend report for Autumn Winter 2011-12. These statement light fittings take on both the austere luxury direction and also are a unique interpretation on recycling & upcycling.
Carolina Fontoura Alzaga the designer behind the chandeliers draws inspiration from DIY, bike culture and combines with the aesthetics of traditional chandeliers. The result is high impact pieces made from bike chains & other components that have an unusual back story to them. With each componant being sourced and cleaned by hand, it takes around 1 month and 120 hours to create each piece, with just over 100 chains of various thickness being used to create the larger, dramatic chandeliers.
Connect 3&4 by Carolina Fontoura Alzaga
Explaining the process & reasoning behind her designs Carolina explains that she uses mechanical pieces of the motorbikes so that she can 're-use some of more practical things that already exist in a world of excess'.
Expanding on this theme, she says; 'It's essential to the concept that I utilize used bike parts. Everyday billions of new things are brought into the world when perfectly useful things already exist and the problem is that there are finite resources. We live in a world of excess. Few have a lot and most don't have much. I want to avoid contributing to that as much as possible and rather contribute, through my art and donations from my profits, to making this a better world for us and future generations. After all, another world is possible, we just have to create it.'
Connect 21 By Carolina Fontoura Alzaga
The artist uses corruption in society as another influence for the collection, which is why these pieces have been named 'Connect.' Carolina explains that her chandeliers represent a metaphor from her experiences in political activism, with the spokes & components representing how political systems work.
Explaining more about her influences Carolina says; 'I remember reading a banner as I walked among thousands of people in the streets for one of the mass demonstrations that left an impact on me. It read: 'They globalize capitalism, we globalize resistance'. These chandeliers to me are a physical manifestation of that banner.'
Carolina obviously puts a great deal into each of her chandeliers, both on a physical & intellectual level. The Trend Boutique understand her message, but also have simply fallen in love with them because of their dark, dramatic beauty that is ever the more interesting because of their coarse beginnings.
