As a creature and diorama artist, my passion is usually for building extraordinary book settings and figures. But this time I wanted to try something slightly different. I have always dreamed of combining character design and lamp design by building my own special chandelier – namely in the form of an Octopus.
Two months ago I finally started to realize this long-cherished dream. The main challenge of this particular project was to keep the weight of the figure as low as possible. After all, the finished octopus chandelier should later be mountable on the ceiling without any problems.
Therefore when building the lamp figure I had to limit myself to only very light materials: styrofoam plates, lightweight modeling clay, and plaster bandages. As with all my projects, I have documented the construction process in a series of pictures, so that you can now see the genesis of our new roommate: Shining Oscar.
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Cutting the individual parts from styrofoam for the head shape
Gluing the parts together to create the substructure for the head
Covering with plaster and adding some details – and Oscar has already got a face
Now all it needs is some structure: styrofoam flakes, sand, and glue will help
Eight wires fixed at Oscar’s neck serve as the substructure for his tentacles
From many small polystyrene discs, aluminum foil and tape, the raw tentacle shape gradually develops
And not only for one arm – all eight tentacles are fitted with small discs, stuffed with foil and then covered with tape and plaster
Oscar is finally an octopus, although still a naked one
What he needs now is some skin structure (made of styrofoam flakes)
And some coloring
Then the real work begins because naturally a real octopus needs suction cups (500 pieces in total)
Now Oscar is only missing his lamp holders, which are first extended with cardboard tubes and then fixed in his tentacle tips
And after connecting the cables, Oscar is finally completed
