"prototype" TC6 light object, Aldo van den Nieuwelaar 1968
Before the TC6 went into production, it was presented in the avant-garde art Galerie Swart. The gallery represented minimal and constructivist artists like Francois Morellet, Sol Lewitt and Donald Judd along with geometric artists like Ad Dekkers and Andre Volten.
This is one of the ca 20 TC6's that were sold by the gallery. The exposition was also intended to attract the interest of lighting companies. And it worked: Artimeta took them into production. So this is a demo version, or prototype. If you look closely, you can see it was made by hand. The bottom doesn't have a hole to use it as a wall lamp, indicating it was initially only a free standing object. On the inside it is very different from the later produced versions. You can see it was still in it's experimental phase.
The standard fluorescent tube was the very starting point for its design, like an industrial "ready made". The original tubes of those days were thicker than new ones. To get all proportions right, it is important to use an old fashion tube. Those tubes are no longer in production, but we have a small stock of unused ones. Two are included in the price.
The bottom part has some lacquer loss and the back has some small spots. It is in a beautiful condition for its age.
