Market Micro: Michelle Brand's Cascade

Karen D. Singh and Mark McMenamin -- Interior Design, 8/1/2008 12:00:00 AM

manufacturer Michelle Brand.

product Cascade.

standout From a distance, this lamp looks like a 1970's waterfall of pop art flowers; up close, the blooms are revealed to be recycled plastic soda-bottle bottoms.

Michelle Brand's Cascade chandelier can be seen in two ways, as a grim comment on a throwaway culture or as an homage to the beauty found in mass-produced objects. "Once a plastic drinks bottle is empty, it's perceived as redundant," Brand explains. To "challenge this wasteful paradigm," as she puts it, she collects and disinfects used bottles. After the bases are removed by machine, she hand-trims each one with a surgical scalpel to refine the edges. She then strings the flower-shape forms together, in custom lengths, with the help of transparent price-tagging connectors, keeping the aesthetic as light as possible. Her one request to buyers: Please consider energy-efficient, low-energy, or low-wattage bulbs, which tie into the product's environmentally conscious ethos. Lisa Fontanarosa Collection, 505-872-1929; lisafontanarosa.com. circle 413

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