Lee’s Chameleon series of five pendant lamps reference traditional lamp shapes but also betray her interest in entomology, with the strong wire forms referencing the spindly legs of insects. Housed within these ‘legs’ are solid-state electronics and multi-chip LEDs, allowing anyone near the lamp to change the colour depending on how close they are.

The Chameleon series accesses the Stories In Form framework through Manufacture, Interaction and Narrative.

It is the interweaving of old and new technologies that provides the manufacture story — one look at the works and you can sense the modern workings, though Lee’s intricate metalworking is possibly understated, despite being very much an integral theme. Similarly, looking at the lights you can sense the narrative, as their shapes stir within you memories of other shapes — the form carries the story of classical historic lights, rendered newly with the aforementioned wire.

Possibly the most exciting and playful component, however, is the interaction. The use of digital technology means that, unlike other interactive elements of the exhibition, you can interact with the Chameleon series immediately and repeatedly. Simply by getting near them you can affect a change of colour from the embedded LED lights, giving the pieces an intensely personal response to everyone who comes near them. The cycle of colour will only begin if you are quite intimate with the lights — you have to be 5-10cm away from them — and a mere touch is required to turn them on and off, resetting them to white light.

Lee finds similarity between her work and that of Ben Wilson + Benedict Radcliffe’s Wire Lamborghini (2007). Both reference iconic shapes with wireframe forms, and both require the individual (or individuals in the case of the older work) to fully realise the meaning. With her less tactile and more surprising interactivity, however, Lee does appear to have taken this one step further towards the approaching world of digital supremacy.

You can find out more about the four frameworks employed in Stories In Form by reading the introduction from curator Jacqueline Power here.

The Chameleon series (#1, #2, #3, #4 & #5) are on display at Object Gallery from 27 January — 24 March 2012. For more information on the exhibition click here, and to find out more about Cinnamon Lee, visit her website. Cinnamon Lee also works as part of the Metalab team — click here to find out more.