Sedna Lighting And Cardiff Met Student Create A Sculpture To Raise Global Warming Awareness

Cardiff based lighting company Sedna tasked students from Cardiff School of Art and Design to create a piece of art that incorporates LED lighting and expresses social message. The sculpture was recently presented at New Energy Cleantech Awards in London. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

To highlight the current global warming discussions and continued increase in carbon emissions, Sedna visited Cardiff Met students with a project brief; where technology and art would unite and express social message. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The project was named SEED as it meant to “plant” a seed of thought in public mind. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Martin Lane, second year in Designer/Maker programme was one of the students who attended the brief. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Martin utilised sources of waste for his materials in order to keep carbon footprint to a minimum. He approached several companies that donated him acrylic paint offcuts, he was also able to locate a waste piece of timber. Sedna provided sufficient amount of LED RGB strip to be incorporated in the art project. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The final result for SEED project was impressive. Creativity, skill and technique demonstrated fulfilled all expectations. The sculpture made by Martin was exhibited during the installation show at Cardiff Metropolitan University and was presented at New Energy and Cleantech Awards in London last month. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Martin commented on his sculpture, “I have just finished my first year in ceramics and transferred onto Artist Designer/Maker course and Sedna’s brief was my first project. I wanted to approach it from an environmental point of view, to show just how much energy is used when producing one lamp that claims to be “Green” moreover due to the light source rather than the production of the whole unit. The sculpture is almost entirety completed by hand using saws, chisels mallets and sandpaper. It was a long arduous task but I thoroughly enjoyed it and was pleased with the outcome.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Speaking about the project, Head of Sales at Sedna, Nathan Edwards said, “We believe our technology could be very interesting combined with art. LED strip in particular, is very flexible and controllable which presents lots of opportunities for incorporating it with art. We wanted students to demonstrate their ability to extend understanding of material into process and execution of work with a creative context. We tasked students to create a large piece of sculpture/art that incorporates LED lighting which expresses a political / social message.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​