Olafur Eliasson's latest project is a solar-powered lamp that he and his engineer partner Frederik Ottesen have designed to be widely distributed in the developing world. Called the Little Sun, the lamp will give 10 times more light than using a kerosene lamp, and at a 10th of the cost.
They have met the costs of the lamps and developed a business model through they can be distributed and sold by local retailers in Africa, initially in Kenya, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, for £6.40
The lamps will also have a life at the Tate where they will be on sale at a developed world price of £16.50. And, starting on 28 July, and for every Saturday night until 23 September, the surrealism rooms at the Tate Modern will be plunged into darkness after normal hours and visitors will view works by the light of the Little Sun lamps, echoing an act of Man Ray who supplied people with torches to illuminate artworks at the opening of the international Surrealist Exhibition of 1938.
Image: the Little Sun lamp
