After Saturday's Chron caution that bamboo won't always be the sustainable building product it is now, we can't blog this beautiful fixture as an environmentalist's righteous indulgence, so we'll just stick to its aesthetic features.
Waver is the handiwork of a young Kyoto craftsman named Yuusuke Yamamoto. He fire-roasts fine white bamboo to make it bendy, and then (to our eyes) re-creates the flame from the bamboo.
It's not a flame you can read by, but then again, a light sculpture like Waver is really all about creating atmosphere, warmth - dare we say heat - in your home.
Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.
- Bruce Lee
A wonderful type of grass in the family Poaceae... regardless of the use, creation, or product.
The natural characteristics shall be appreciated, as shown in Yamamoto's work. Just stunning!
I have to admit I'm not sure of all of the environmental impacts of bamboo. But I do want to point out that the letter in the Chron was written by a self-described "forester," who has a vested interested in defending the U.S. timber industry. I don't know much about the finishing processes of bamboo, but I do know that the trees replenish themselves much more rapidly than your typical conifer forest does, and therefore using it takes the pressure of the world's forests. So please don't entirely dismiss bamboo's environmental benefits!
Rory, I agree, foresters have a MAJOR interest in us not finding alternatives to their products. Bamboo is a grass and grows much faster than your average tree. There are places where it is a noxious invasive and using it is definitely renewable and also addressing another issue. I would stick with the grass, in this case, if only because we're not depleting 400-year-old Old Growth forests that can never recover.
Stunning light sculpture, well worth the price, but sadly out of my budget for now. Yamamoto is clearly a master at his craft!
For more on bamboo this is well worth reading:
http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm?fileName=061005c.xml