Verena Hennig’s ‘Rope Light Chandelier’ unfolds Silken Threads

by Venetia Kapernekas

“Experience is never limited and is it never complete; it is an immense sensibility, a kind of huge spider’s web of the finest silken threads, suspended in the chambers of consciousness and catching every air-borne particle in its issue. It is the very atmosphere of the mind; and when the mind is imaginative – more so when it happens to that of a man of genius-it takes to itself the faintest hits of life. it covers the very pulses of the air into revelations ” (Henry James, “The Art of Fiction”  from the ‘Anthony Trollope’ first published in 1883)

 

‘Rope Light Chandelier’  Verena Hennig, 2017, photo @ Tilman Weishart

Verena Hennig‘s latest designed  piece “The Rope” unfolded to the “the rope light Chandelier” inviting the viewer/customer to explore and create their  own unique version of the product.  The chandelier contains of three illuminated lines, which can be arranged freely and intertwined. The flexible lights allow options to create forms and shapes in a space.

‘Rope Light ‘Verena Hennig, 2017, photo @Tilman Weishart

Verena Hennig is an internationally working Creative Director and Designer from Germany. She studied Graphic Design and Visual Communication at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nurenberg  alongside directing at the London Film Academy. Hennig went on to work for renowned practices such as as Sagmeister & Walsh in New York, Süddeutsche Zeitung in Munich and Pernilla Ohrstedt Studio in London.  In 2012 Hennig opened the design practice, Studio Verena Hennig followed by her own product brand in 2015.

Inspired from an early age by the work of American sculptor Alexander Calder, Verena’s appetite for interaction and playfulness was whetted by Calder’s ability to animate the inanimate through the use of wires and she has sought ever since to create designs that are both compelling and distinctly creative in her  approach. ”

‘Light Curtain’   Verena Hennig, 2017, photo@Tilman Weishart

 

The light shines from 360 customised LED bars to create a comfortable and unique mood.  Verena Hennig’ love of material, performance and minimalism resonates to form a sculptural piece, creating at same time, within the physical space an abstract and yet an ethereal space of illumination.

(detail)

ROPE LIGHT was first presented at Design-junction during the London Design Festival 2016, the filigrane and flexible pendant offers a multitude of configurations that allow for different graphical shapes to be drawn in the space. Warm light shines from 360° customized LED bars to create a comfortable and unique mood.

….I come from a background of graphic design, but always felt a little bit limited by materials and the graphical formats either on screen or on paper. Therefore my team and I explore and combine the fields of art, architecture and design in my studio. We investigate the questions of our daily lives and strive to engage our audiences with intelligent and distinctively created design solutions by altering the familiar, always with a focus on the interaction between product and user which has been the driving force in all of my designs… (Verena Hennig on Interview with Founding Editor Katie Treggiden/Confessions of a Design Week)

Verena Hennig ‘s private office/studio, Fuerth/Nuremberg

 

‘Rope Light’, Verena Hennig, 2017, photo @Tilman Weishart

 

The Studio Verena Hennig is a Design consultancy exploring and combining the fields of art, architecture and design. The studio produces projects for clients ranging from culture to industry, from print scales, products up to architectural designs.

I met Verena Hennig a year ago after  seeing a photograph at the AD /DE  as Winner of the Award for Interior Innovation 2016 featuring her ‘Roll collection” and I set to meet her and her work.  She designed the ‘Roll collection’ to create an engaging and playful experience between the user and the furniture; the name came from the rolling  aluminium sticks that form the seats and chair backs, which slide from left to right to massage the sitter. (Dezeen interview story) I found it incredibly interesting, playful and just beautiful. Verena Hennig is the darling of press of her beautiful and fresh designed pieces.

While I was reading Clarice Lispector ‘s book  ‘Selected Crônicas’  who had quoted Henry James in one of her stories (and I decided to bring the Silk Threads in my opening presentation) Clarice continues,  “…and that huge spider lurks in the chamber of consciousness. Ah, how wonderful life is with its ensnaring webs.”