Hannah Sullivan

An explorative project focused on the possibility of strong emotional connections between people and their belongings.

In a culture driven by urgency and indulgence have we lost our ability to form long lasting relationships with our belongings? This project explores that question through the theory that by making objects more familiar to us, we can evoke feelings of gratitude and empathy - in hopes of forming prolonged partnerships with them. This design incorporates the anthropomorphic quality of hair into an everyday object: a lamp. Hair, an inherently intimate and personal feature, is reimagined here in dialogue with light – an element that often goes unappreciated. Through this marriage the lamp takes on a quiet yet evocative presence, inviting the user to form a mutual connection with it which with time could deepen. This piece acts as an artefact for our much wider issue of overconsumption, and hopes to encourage a more mindful, empathetic approach to the belongings that we use everyday – our lifelong companions.