The lightbulb was to be suspended in mid-air, inflated and have an acrobat artist dancing inside it, so there was a lot to take into consideration. There were numerous artist’s that would be dancing in the bulb throughout the evening, the transition between each one needed to be seamless so the crowd wouldn’t notice the changeover.

A zipped entry/exit point was inserted at the bottom and offset to one side so it was out of the crowds view. The ‘base’ of the bulb which was at the top needed to be constructed in such a manner to house a blower, this also needed to be constructed so that performers would use to dance around.

The weight of the bulb was a big factor, as the clear PVC on its own weighed approx. 50kg. There needed to be as little visual deterrence from the artist as possible so all seams were welded. The weight of the clear was a challenge during manufacture, as each petal was added additional people were needed to help manoeuvre the bulb around and take the weight of it to ensure it wouldn’t stretch under its own weight offsetting indication marks and deforming the shape.

We incorporated a 16mm solid stainless steel rod to distribute the weight evenly when it was suspended from the lighting rig.