Vantot: Current Currents

Electric current is often perceived as something we should be frightened of, but design company Vantot set out to challenge this preconception, with their project 'Current Currents'. During the Milan Design Fair I visited the 'Current Currents' exhibition by Vantot, and it really stimulated my imagination and got me genuinely interested in how to take different approaches to traditional, more conventional lighting.

 'What would it be like if low voltage would be the new normal? Would we still be afraid to touch it? How can we implement electric components as part of the design, instead of hiding them?' These are just a few of the questions that Vantot poses in their new 'Current Currents' collection.

Electrical current is a fundamental part of our home appliances and interiors. As it's often thought of to be dangerous, it is carefully stored away in small boxes or isolated cables. Vantot designs innovative but low voltage lighting systems that challenge the idea of 'what a light should look like'. Mostly made from LEDs, these lights are fully conductive whilst being safe to touch. LED bulbs require a different approach to conventional lighting. In comparison to more traditional methods and fixtures the focused, more dense light emitted from LEDs calls for multiple light sources instead of one. Consequently, the lights in 'Current Currents' have many bulbs on them and are very intricately designed.

This new approach to lighting design opens up a whole new scope of design opportunities. The industrial aesthetic of the designs makes them look modern, sleek and quirky, whilst the concept behind it poses a real design challenge. 'Current Currents' is a project which is as much about making people think differently as it is about making beautiful lighting and that is what, to me at least, makes it so interesting.