Chuan Ma: the elegant lamp that turns

Product / 20 Feb 2018 / Shirley Chen

Chuan Ma is a product designer who graduated from the Royal College of Art (MA Design Products) in 2016. Before that she had studied at China Academy of Art for 7 years, obtaining a BA degree in Industrial Design and a MA in Industrial Design Human and Communication. Her practice takes in influence from a range of areas; ancient crafts to industrial design. Chuan builds her own approach from historical research and material experimentation. Her projects present the combination of material exploration and perceptual communication to create long-lasting objects which can be handed down by the user.

At the RCA’s graduate show Chuan presented a unique piece of lighting design; “FLUX”. The perfect round shape referenced classic oriental aesthetics, while the special material used transformed the rays of light created by the piece when turned by hands, creating an elegant movement.

The inspiration came from an historic fan factory in Chuan Ma’s hometown; Hangzhou, China. She was intrigued by the heavy contrast between mass-produced fans as a cheap souvenir and an exquisitely handcrafted fan as a luxury collectable. “I want to raise a question; how can we incorporate the traditional material and handicraft skills of the past into our current contemporary lifestyle?” Chuan said; “I want to get involved into the territory of traditional craftsmanship and contemporary industrial design, using my views as a designer and the wisdom from ancient China to create a lighting design for daily life.”

research

Chuan was particularly interested in a type of rounded fan that could be rolled up in order to carry around easily in ancient times. She wanted to combine this movement with the lamp. The key to this magical transformation was the material. Chuan tried everything from Xuan paper, plastic, bamboo, metal, tough silk and damask silk, combining these with different adhesives and layerings to find the one that could roll smoothly. However, none of the experiments were quite successful. Chuan had to go back to Hangzhou, and find a craftsman to collaborate with.

material experimentation

working with the craftsman

Finally Chuan found the right person, together they decided to use Xuan paper and silk (Juan) as the main material, a renowned material combination for ancient Chinese painting scrolls. They also used the craftsman’s special glue; handmade from rice with zero chemicals. They spent a month experimenting with different sizes, thicknesses and layer combinations, putting each piece onto the mock-up lamp frame to check the movement and the persistence of the material.

tools and material

mock-ups

lighting test

After finalising the material, Chuan put the round material onto the wooden mock-up and carried out some tests to help design the lamp holder. Chuan explained, “I need to see whether the user will turn the ‘fan’ as expected, how they will do it and where they need to hold to spin the ‘fan’.” Chuan decided the specifics of the lamp based upon the functions needed and the test results. For example, she left a certain distance on top and a ‘handrail’ at the bottom for the users to hold, meaning she had to make a heavy lamp base to ensure the stability when spinning by one hand.

user behaviour test

When being asked whether she will continue to use Chinese elements as inspiration in the future, Chuan provided a clever answer: “Actually, I don’t want to emphasise that my work is ‘Chinese style’ or consists of ‘Chinese elements’. I am a designer from China, therefore the spirit of Chinese design is inevitable. It is in my blood. After the exhibition, a lot of viewers told me the perfectly rounded shape of fan already looks very oriental. I don’t have to emphasise that it is from China.”

As for her opinions on traditional handicraft, Chuan admitted its influence upon her at the beginning of her design education. She is fascinated by the soul and the essence of the craftsmanship, seeing it as “the wisdom of our ancestors”, not just the style, surface or form. Reconnecting the intangible cultural heritage with our modern life, Chuan made her own response to this functional and aesthetic demand, while further pushing material development and innovation at the RCA. “The piece of ‘paper’,” she said, “is probably the most valuable outcome in this project.”