A Full Moon Glowing in Your Room!
At the end of September “Places Beyond” opened at Fotografiska Tallinn — the sorcerer Erik Johansson’s magical exhibition which takes the viewer on a dreamlike journey.
Have you ever wondered where clouds come from? But of course: in every meadow there’s an oldie busy sheering all the sheep and sending their soft wool up to the sky. White sheep make the white clouds, while black sheep make the rainy ones.
The same goes for the moon — there’s a team which always takes care that the moon is hanging up in the sky. These surreal visuals and stories get tangled up with the most mundane thoughts and inspire us to harness our own imagination. Any fact could find an alternative, mystical explanation!
VIVISTOP Telliskivi and Fotografiska Tallinn joined forces to further the message of the exhibition. Together we decided to organize a workshop where children could take part in the magic during a guided tour, then craft for themselves a full moon lamp based on inspiration from the exhibition. After all, who knows, the Full Moon Service from Erik’s photos might suddenly need help again exchanging the gleaming moon in the sky with a fresh one.
“Erik’s exhibition is an endless source of inspiration and it’s beyond words how awesome it is to see this inspiration being put to practice in VIVISTOP creative lab where it’s easy-breezy to bring to life even the most complicated ideas.“ — Elo Aun, Fotografiska Tallinn
An expedition at full moon
The magic journey began at Fotografiska’s photo gallery where together with the tour guide the children got to know more about the behind-the-scenes of Erik Johansson’s artworks and this also gave them a better overview of the whole exhibition concept. After a quick energy boost in the form of a delicious lunch in the Fotografiska cafe, VIVISTOP Telliskivi lifted the curtains on the moon crafting workshop.
First, we had to recreate the moon’s terrain: the transparent globe was covered with a thin layer of paint and then sprinkled with grains of sand. Wall paint leftovers from Fotografiska’s earlier exhibition productions were used for painting and glow-in-the-dark spray — for finishing touches. While the paint was drying there was a chance to give soldering a go. Following a scheme, all the important electronic components (LED bulbs, resistor, switch, battery holder, batteries) were attached to an acrylic base, and their points of contact were soldered together.
As soon as the LED bulbs were set alight we could move on to the last activity: putting the moon lamp together. For this we needed to glue the acrylic base with the electronic parts inside the globe and assemble the wooden lamp base using a hot glue gun. And voilà, the full moon was ready and the testing could begin. How does the moonlight shine in the dark?
Just like that, the children who participated in the workshop prepared 12 unique full moons ready for the Full Moon Service team and could take them home so that the inspiration taken from Erik Johansson’s art could go on, and light at night would protect their sleep and guide their dreams. And who knows, maybe this workshop already inspired some future young and talented photography artists!
However kids, beware! The Full Moon Service might soon be knocking on your door.
For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, Erik Johansson’s photo exhibition “Places Beyond” is still up in Fotografiska Tallinn until 17 January 2012. The handy ones can also give it a go at crafting the full moon lamp👇. The Full Moon Service is thankful for any help!
Thank you, Fotografiska Tallinn, for the exciting challenge!
Workshop creators Vera Naydenova and Heikko Ellermaa.
Text Eva Liisa Kubinyi, Photos Sigrid Kägi/VIVITA Estonia.
DIY: Full moon recipe
The full moon lamp has three basic ingredients: a globe, a base, and a light solution.
Full moon
- 1 plastic globe — available from Arte (d = 13cm) or Karnaluks (d = 16cm)
- Paint (you only need black and white to mix into various shades of grey), it’s recommended to use acrylic which dries fast and is also available from Arte or another art supplies shop
- 2 sponges
Cover with a thin layer of paint so that the light can shine through. Create different darker and lighter areas. It’s best to spread the paint by dabbing with a sponge so that it remains even and not too thick. Let dry.
More ideas: add a little glue and sprinkle sand over it to get a more interesting texture. You can also cover the surface of the moon with paint that glows in the dark.
Base
- plywood or stronger corrugated cardboard
The model and sizes recommended for the above plastic bodies are shown in the scheme below. For best results, the size of the base should corresponds to the diameter of the globe so that the moon nests nicely in it. Hint: if you already have a globe, you can retrace the curve based on it and take the other measurements from the scheme.
Putting it together is easy: cut three pieces of the base part and glue them, using hot glue, for example, the narrower parts go together.
Light
- 2 white LED bulbs — available here
- 1 resistor 68ohm (depending on the LED bulbs you use, it helps prolong their lifespan) — available here
- 1 motion sensor switch — available here
- 1 round battery holder for 2 CR2032 batteries — we used round ones, but this is also suitable
- 2 CR2032 batteries — available in most regular shops
Acrylic is best suited to mount the parts but it can also be replaced with cardboard in a lighter shade. Find the scheme for the placement and electrical connections below:
Place the parts into the base, turn it around and solder them together one by one as shown on the scheme. Hint: all parts are on top of the base and all connections and wires are on the bottom. You can go without the motion sensor switch if the battery holder has its own switch. But it makes it possible to switch the light on and off without opening the globe.
Put the base into the globe and fix the sides with hot glue so that it will stay in place when turning the moon around.
