|FLUX| for gilt, Beirut 24-05-2016_
Installation by GHAITH&JAD for Beirut Design Week 2016
FLUX is an exploration of form, a study in transformation: taking an object shaped entirely by hand and translating it into something that feels parametric. For this installation, Ghaith and Jad constructed a series of towering wire mesh columns, chosen for their transparency, structure, and inherent ability to hold themselves upright as rolled material. Once formed, the ends of each mesh tube were carefully distorted from within, giving the columns an ethereal, ghost like presence, as if they were suspended plumes of smoke rising through the entrance of Gilt.
To echo the restaurant’s vaulted ceiling, the duo introduced a single source of light, a small bulb suspended between the mesh forms and attached to a pulley system. The slightest movement set the bulb into motion, animating the space with a shifting choreography of shadows across floors, walls, and arches. Each column stood on a mirrored base, extending its form infinitely downward and enhancing the sensation of weightless verticality.
A long copper rod held the moving bulb, allowing it to glide gently when activated. The result is a space that embraces every architectural aspect of Gilt while maintaining full transparency to the street, a delicate, elegant layer of translucent black smoke seemingly frozen in time, yet subtly alive with every movement of light.
