Jason Benson
Trampled strawberry with a side of human hair, 2015
Copper pipe, wicker, hemp, aluminum wire, goalie mask
20 x 16 x 24 in (50.8 x 40.6 x 61 cm)
Jason Benson
I've always been a person, 2015
Cardboard, copper and steel pipe, lamp kit, hardware, tape, wicker, hemp, goalie mask, terrarium moss and gravel, adhesive rhinestones, shells, epoxy resin, energy efficient bulb
15 x 12 x 12 in (38.1 x 30.5 x 30.5 cm)
Jason Benson
The asshole of infinity, 2015
Cardboard, balsa wood, cord lamp, hardware, tape, wicker, thread, snail shell, disassembled steamer, adhesive rhinestones, epoxy resin energy efficient bulb
18 x 14 x 14 in (45.7 x 35.6 x 35.6 cm)
Jason Benson
Void caller, 2015
Cardboard, foam core, cord lamp, hardware, tape copper foil, aluminum wire, inkjet on paper, marker and pencil, adhesive rhinestones, vintage gate part, epoxy resin, energy efficient bulb
8 x 14 x 14 in (20.3 x 35.6 x 35.6 cm)
Jason Benson
Crawler, 2015
steel pipe, lamp kit, wicker, hemp, tape, snail shell, oyster and clam shells, foam, inkjet on cotton, adhesive rhinestones, goalie mask, Jason mask, energy efficient bulb
32 x 24 x 20 in (81.3 x 61 x 50.8 cm)
Jason Benson
Untitled (C.B. H8), 2015
Steel pipe, lamp kit, foam core, hardware, graphite on paper, inkjet on paper, snail shell with screw, carved wood spirit, epoxy resin, energy efficient bulb
19 x 15 x 8 in (48.3 x 38.1 x 20.3 cm)
Jason Benson
Untitled (local psycho) , 2015
steel pipe, lamp kit, foam core with pen drawing, hardware, deer pelvic bone, polymer clay, terrarium moss, snail shells, adhesive rhinestones, epoxy resin, energy efficient bulb
19 x 15 x 8 in (48.3 x 38.1 x 20.3 cm)
Jason Benson
Untitled (clone soup), 2015
Steel pipe, lamp kit, cardboard, foam core, wicker, tape, shells, wine bud, terrarium moss, sand, Jason Mask, inkjet on paper, epoxy resin, energy efficient bulb
19 x 15 x 8 in (48.3 x 38.1 x 20.3 cm)
Jason Benson
Untitled (bug city), 2015
Steel pipe, lamp kit, foam core, tape, pen on paper, uv print on aluminum, imitation flowers, plant debris, adhesive rhinestones, epoxy resin, energy efficient bulb
19 x 15 x 8 in (48.3 x 38.1 x 20.3 cm)
Jason Benson
Untitled (pyur damyg 1), 2015
Cardboard tube, lamp kit, foam core, cooling rack, pen on paper, hardware hemp, assorted shells and tree bark, epoxy resin, energy efficient bulb
19 x 15 x 8 in (48.3 x 38.1 x 20.3 cm)
Jason Benson
Untitled (servant of the bog), 2015
steel pipe, lamp kit, cardboard, pen on foam core, aquarium props, plant debris, sand, snail shell, adhesive rhinestones, epoxy resin, energy efficient bulb
19 x 15 x 8 in (48.3 x 38.1 x 20.3 cm)
Chapter 1
"You should always check with local authorities to ensure that any DIY project abides by local codes and regulations." reads the "DIY Industrial Lamp: Cool Desk Lamp Made From Pipe" article on the home depot blog, posted by an anonymous staff member.
I'm pretty certain that the local authorities wouldn't care about a lamp made out of store-bought steel pipes, or I mean, they shouldn't care about low-wattage lighting devices in general. There are usually more important things to worry about, like actual human crime.
I didn't think I would need to contact the authorities, but I did.
'Building the Lamp Base,' easy enough.
With the blog's instructions open on my phone for reference at my studio desk, I read on. 'Building the Lamp Body and Wiring It,' I knew I had to process this part a few times. I'm afraid of getting electrocuted and get really OCD about turning switches on and off. It's a wonder I've gotten into home projects. I followed each step meticulously and found that the lamp was easier to make than I thought. I switched it on and off a few times. It worked, but it looked plain.
Over a few months I assembled dozens of lamps. Sometimes I'd work only by the light of the last lamp I built, but despite leaving the bulbs exposed, it always seemed to get darker in my studio. Sometimes I went out for more materials from the hardware store, other times I would just use things from around the house.
I thought about how darkness masks the dangerous figures in horror movies. I would worry about what they really were or how they actually moved. But you can't hold up a lamp in a horror movie, you just wait. I guess I was obscuring my own fears by building these lamps.
Midnight, one-fifty, three-thirty, six-o-six. I'd stay up fitting sockets and burning imprints into my retinas of luminous filaments, ensuring that they'd hum actively when I pressed on one side and dead silent for the other.
Eventually, I wasn't sure if I was dreaming in the studio, seeing the just-dimmed glass of a bulb or the face of a cesspool-born monster. I'd miss work sitting watch over the lamps, daylight thinning and counting down until the first light switch would be pressed in.
—Brook Sinkinson Withrow