LIFE UNDER GLASS
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| Courtesy of Bulbarium Co. |
The presence of lighting in every day life is never as fully
appreciated as on a day when a major outage knocks out the
power grid to thrust you into darkness until the next morning, as
happened earlier this week in San Juan. It's a moment that invites
a reappraisal of the simple beauty of the lightbulb.
The incandescent lightbulb, which is on its way out as it gets
displaced by more efficient alternatives, is a wondrous artifact.
Its component parts seem almost too modest to produce
the miracle of light yet there you have it: two wispy vertical
metal wires enclosed inside a glass shell channel electricity
toward the top horizontal filament, heating it just enough for
it to glow with light.
Once the filament burns out, the bulb has run its course. But as
with so many things being repurposed these days, even light-
bulbs can claim a new life. Javier Garrote takes spent bulbs
and turns them into miniature vivariums filled with plants
that grow within the safe enclosure of the glass globe to
give pleasure to plant lovers and beholders alike.
Garrote is an unlikely creator of delicate still lives. This 32-year
old Puerto Rican musician is a member of the band Los Vigilantes,
which he colorfully describes "as if a loud Punk Rock band from the
1980s were abusing the Beach Boys." The group today kicks
off a grand tour that will take them to Texas, Portland ( Oregon),
Mexico, Chicago, Montreal, Toronto and Atlanta.
When he's not playing base and singing with the band or doing
other things, Garrote is at work on his miniature plant worlds.
"It's a way to contain nature," he said in describing the appeal
of his enterprise, felicitously named The Bulbarium Co. Collecting
used lightbulbs and roaming city neighborhoods in search of
plants to create the vivariums is the easy part. The miniature
gardens he fashions with the help of tweezers and chopsticks
consist of moss and small plants such as bromeliads, hardy and
colorful plants that can get by with limited moisture and
are therefore ideal for the sheltered life of a globe.
The process itself of preparing each lightbulb is time consuming
and exacting but Garrote seems to have patience to spare.
It entails carefully uncapping the ceramic insulator
(the screw cap), removing the vertical supply wires
and top filament, and cleaning the interior of the globe
so as to remove its toxic interior coat.
A fan of taxidermy, Garrote also creates vivariums that
feature spiders and other critters inside glass jars. His
bulbariums are available at Concalma in Old San Juan and
at Electroschock, a Rio Piedras thrift store that he runs
with three friends. You can also place orders through
his Facebook page. Prices: $15 and $25.
Concalma, 207 San Francisco St., old San Juan
Electroshock, 1003 Ponce de León Ave., Río Piedras
A SIMPLE TIP -- If there are no libraries in your
neighborhood, consider a convenient way to save on book
purchases: team up with several friends to share the cost of
buying one book for each member of the group. Then you
can take turns reading each book and at the end everyone
gets to keep the one they liked best.
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Artwork by Ashleigh Brilliant
But it can make you awfully comfortable while you're being miserable.
Clare Booth
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☛ EYE ON PRODUCTS
As most pet owners are all too painfully aware, feeding cats,
or dogs, is getting more and more expensive so it pays to
take advantage of sales when they come by (not often
enough!). Currently at SuperMax De Diego, a Friskies
promotion gives you 5 cans for $3, or 60 cents per
can compared with the regular price of 79 cents per
can. A definite break. Through March 12.
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| Queen of the Night by Denise Blasor I am shouting but you don't answer-- One day you'll look for me and I'll be gone from this world. Landai, a two-line poem by Zarmina, Afghani poet who set herself on fire. |
Copyright © 2013 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved✍
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