Dezeen Awards 2024 honours practices mitigating climate and social crises
by STIRworldNov 29, 2024
•make your fridays matter with a well-read weekend
by ERCOPublished on : Aug 15, 2021
Rembrandt's Girl in the Window in the Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, or the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, Paris: art masterpieces have always sparked fascination and cast a spell over the observer. This effect is caused by the artistic achievement itself but is also credited to how the work of art is displayed, which can be created in any exhibition with the use of light. Light opens art up to experience. The ideal lighting in museums or galleries – adapted to the exhibition concept – is exacting and discerning, as it contributes to how visitors perceive what they see. It might even be said that lighting art is an art in itself. Mastering this requires suitable lighting tools and approach to lighting product design.
Curators and lighting designers define framing, or lighting with the use of contours, as sharply defined beams of light that precisely illuminate exhibits in galleries and museums. The background, usually the wall, remains in the dark, thus creating a beguiling and magical impression. Conventional contour spotlights only fulfil this single lighting task and are inflexible in further applications. ERCO has developed a solution for this conundrum with its Eclipse contour spotlight. Professional spotlights for galleries and museums feature the flexibility of changing the light distribution without tools. This means that in no time at all, a luminaire with framing functionality is transformed into a spotlight with round light distribution – and vice versa.
Those responsible in galleries and museums have always felt the need for flexible exhibition lighting. Contemporary lighting designers on the other hand need the greatest possible planning security. Eclipse contour spotlights bring together these requirements. The advantages for users:
- Future-proof owing to interchangeable light distributions
- Special light distributions for short and long distances
- Perfect rendering of colours due to a wide selection of light spectra
- Flexible use with tunable white and RGBW
- Sizes and lumen packages to match the exhibit
- Simple handling
The framing attachment is available with the spotlight itself and as a separate accessory. This simply transforms the Eclipse spotlight into a fully-fledged framer. Exhibition organisers can use two different light distributions: wide framing to illuminate large pictures from a short distance, and narrow framing for small pictures from a long distance. The double projection lens of the wide framing distribution generates a very small focal distance and thus a projection image up to three times larger than other contour spotlights.
Even large works of art can be illuminated with just one or a few spotlights. Eclipse is available in three sizes with LED modules from 3W and 279lm up to 37W and 3920lm. The 48V version enables exciting framing effects to also be created with a miniaturised low voltage system. The track that has already been installed can simply be reused, with a distance to the wall of about one-third of the room height.
Perfect framing has never been so easy even at close range. With the size 'M' Eclipse contour spotlight, a picture with a width of 1.40m is easily illuminated from a distance of 2m. A high illuminance is achieved, while at the same time, less wattage and luminaires are required.
With tunable white, designers and curators can adapt the light spectrum to the exhibit. With RGBW, scenographic lighting concepts with up to 16 million colours can be created – and simply controlled with a smartphone via Bluetooth. Operating the slide controls is intuitive and allows square or rectangular lighting areas to be set with precision. The framing attachment can be infinitely adjusted with just one hand. Disturbing light reflections are completely avoided by the closed, light-tight housing of the Eclipse Framer.
Learn more about the new possibilities for the perfect display of paintings and discover the Eclipse contour spotlights:www.erco.com/framing
Visit the latest collections from ERCO on STIRpad.com.
by Mrinmayee Bhoot Sep 03, 2025
Speaking with STIR, the event director of FIND Design Fair Asia discusses the exhibits for this year, design forecasts for Asia and the value of design in the global market.
by Jincy Iype Aug 29, 2025
Holding stories, holding people: The creative duo reflected on archives, imperfection and empathy to frame care as both practice and philosophy in this evocative ~log(ue).
by Mrinmayee Bhoot Aug 28, 2025
A compilation of writing systems and visual communication styles, edited by Oliver Häusle, explores the possibilities, resonances and unique qualities of the tools we use to write.
by Bansari Paghdar Aug 25, 2025
The upcoming edition looks forward to offering a layered, multidisciplinary series of presentations and dialogues examining Pan-Asian design within a transnational landscape.
make your fridays matter
SUBSCRIBEEnter your details to sign in
Don’t have an account?
Sign upOr you can sign in with
a single account for all
STIR platforms
All your bookmarks will be available across all your devices.
Stay STIRred
Already have an account?
Sign inOr you can sign up with
Tap on things that interests you.
Select the Conversation Category you would like to watch
Please enter your details and click submit.
Enter the 6-digit code sent at
Verification link sent to check your inbox or spam folder to complete sign up process
by ERCO | Published on : Aug 15, 2021
What do you think?