Tom Dixon Beat LED Pendant

"Illuminated sculptures hand formed with hammers and lathes."

Northern India, the birthplace of Tom Dixon Beat Pendant. It perpetuates the skills of artisan craftsmen of the area. The pendant lamp has an unusualorigin;it is a re-purposed water vessel which was hand-raised, welded, beaten and skimmed into functional silhouettes for the refraction of a golden light that is both romantic and illumintaing.

In 2004, the designer, Tom, was involved in an initiative in Jaipur. He was there to create alternative possibilities for the rapidly vanishing craftsmen and their skills. The Tom Dixon Beat Pendant light was instigated during an NGO development project undertaken by the British Council and Tom Dixon in 2002.

With a will in his heart, Tom stayed to maintain and develop the skills of street metalworkers of Rajasthan. These were the underlying proportions and techniques of traditional brass work. The same ones used to create water vessels and cooking pots. These were used to create new objects of sculptural simplicity with a rethought functionality.

Each Beat light is now made from hand-spun brass sculpted by artisan craftsmen in Northern India. They are hand-raised, welded, beaten and finally skimmed on a lathe, they retain hammer marks from their forming. It is truly remarkable work for a place that needs so much help.