Lights Fantastic visited dOKUMENTA(13) - Germany's foremost contemporary art exihibition - in 2013 and was presented to the art critic Lori Waxman - her commentary:

60 WRD/MIN ART CRITIC // KASSEL

Anna Schmidt

A brief history of artistically designed lamps would have to include Isamu Noguchi’s paper- covered modernist orbs, Philippe Starck’s many postmodern witticisms, and the cute metal cow head that stood by my bedside when I was a teenager. Anna Schmidt’s “Funky Mary” glows somewhere in between them all. Originally just a floor lamp with a fussy wooden base and a cream silk shade trimmed in black velvet, the device was utterly transformed by Schmidt’s addition of organza and chicken wire. The shade became a swishy ladies’ skirt, complete with legs hanging below and a bustier-wearing torso above. Other creations by Schmidt reimagine the lamp shade with slightly less bawdiness but an equal understanding of its inherent possibilities. Magazine pages, hand-knit wool, painted fabric and variously deconstructed and reconstructed found shades abound; light is used both in its presence and in its absence; even the metal frame that holds it all together invisibly becomes a striking element. A perfect reading light these are not—but then, with the advent of e-readers, we no longer really need lamps just for lighting up the printed page.

—Lori Waxman 9/12/12 2:40 PM