The GOLEM LAMP project synthesizes mold making, 3d software modelling & printing, mathematics, plastic chemistry, and sculpture. Lamps are almost an industrial design program standard, but I’m proud of what I think is a unique, artistic, and mass-produceable approach to an industry staple.
I began with the lamp base. Having lost access to Rhino 3d (what I’d previously used), designing this piece served as tutorial to modelling in Blender. There’s a steep learning curve and I spent more time than I’d care to admit, trying to do some very basic things. Though, I did learn a lot in the process. I fitted light fixture specific holes in the bottom, secured via screw holes on either side, space for the wire to exit, stands on each corner, product trademark, logo, and groove on the top of the base to fit flush into the lampshade.
Using a reinforced carboard box as the structural base for the lampshade model, I made a 6.5X6.5X8.5 cubic sculpture with Monster Clay – a plastic putty used universally in mold making. In creating the mold itself, I was given a choice between the more expensive Dump Mold avenue, which would use a massive amount of Dragonskin 30 silicone and cost me around $350 to make, or the Brush-On technique, using much less silicone, and a hydrocal plaster shell/structural support. I chose the Brush-On technique and spent around a third of my original projected cost. It turns out a dated tutorial video was enough for me to succeed. This was probably my cleanest mold yet.
Resin, before it is mixed and solidified is highly toxic and messy. I followed very specific procedures in pouring, cleaning, mixing, cleaning, dying, and cleaning my materials. I chose to work with Resin D57 for its translucent quality and hardness. To achieve a shell with my mold, I needed to use rotation casting, but resins generally leave very little time after part A and B are mixed, and chemically react to form the resin polymer. My grade of resin allotted me 3 minutes to mix, pour, and rotate each layer, after which the liquid would begin to truly solidify, however, as I accustomed to the process, casting became easier and quicker. For light color versatility, I used remote-controlled color changing bulbs.
The Golem’s Roots…
Golem is rooted in the Hebrew verb ‘galam,’ phonetically spelled ‘gaw-lam’, meaning to wrap up/ to fold. The masculine noun is ‘Golem,’ defined as an unfinished vessel; an embryo, and clarified in the Torah (The old Testament), in Psalm 139:16, as “my imperfect substance [golmi ra’u enecha]” or “my unformed body,” or “my unformed limbs,” depending on the bible translation one reads. In this psalm, Adam reflects on his own creation, exclaiming to Yahweh (God), “My frame was not hidden from you/ when I was made in the secret place/ when I was woven together in the depths of the earth/ Your eyes saw my unformed body;/all the days ordained for me were written in your book/ before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:15-16) This marks the beginning of a tradition inexorably tying this unfinished vessel with the earth. The name Adam’s Hebrew meaning is ‘One from the Soil’. This is corroborated in Job 33:6, where Job says to Adam, “I am the same as you in God’s sight; I too am a piece of clay.” Adam is the first Golem. Exegesis is rabbinic dialogue with the Torah, deepen Jewish interpretations of their holy text. These excerpts of scripture provide a couple foundations by which following Jewish scholars have used to build the word’s significance. A golem is of the earth, a golem is beholden to his creator, and an unfinished being. The subtleties existing between subsequent retellings and interpretations surrounding the human creation story in Judaism act as layers of understanding adding to interventions of their predecessors. Perhaps one of the most crucial to the development of the modern legend comes from the Sefer Yetzirah, a famous Jewish mystical speculatory text on God’s exploits in the creation story of the Torah. There is little clarity as to exactly when it was written (estimated between 100-500 CE) but is said to be the will of King Abraham, giving the text immediate status and near indoctrination as Judaic scripture. Here is detailed how God Formed Adam; instruction on one creates a golem. In the text, special creative power is given to letters, words, and the power of language (Krauss, 114). Using the Hebrew alphabet, “He [Yahweh] combined, weighed them, and formed by them all beings which are in existence and those which will be formed in all times to come,” (Sefer Yetzirah, Chapter II, Section 2). This not only establishes a means for rabbi to attempt their own golems, but also serves as a template for a medieval Ashkenazic traditional retelling of the creation story, engraving ‘emeth [truth] on his forehead brings Adam (a golem) to life (Krauss, 115). Life can be just as quickly taken away by removing alef, the first letter in ‘emeth, turning it’s meaning from truth to death. Along with numerous other traditions, interpretations, and retellings, this kabbalah adds understanding to Sefer Yetzirah, Genesis, Job, etc. to create a rich, if not meandering cultural consensus on golems through which legend can grow. Similar Kabbalist commentary would establish adjacent commonalities such as the holy power innate in Hebrew language, golem creation’s religious sanction and pious merit, and l limited capability, reserved for those closest to God with special knowledge of his true name. Also, established was the relationship between a golem and its rabbi as illumination on excerpts from the Old Testament – the sculptor and his work, the fabricator and the fabricated. The point is that this wealth of rabbinic tradition/commentary became rich soil for the growing of a legend. But how does one distinguish between exegesis, kabbalah, scripture, and legend? There is no clean answer because these genres tend to bleed into one another. But at least now the motifs that appear in the first legends of Golems around the 17th century in Ashkenazi communities (and elsewhere) are more easily recognizable.
