Piece story · DDR SDS Drill Lamp
How I almost got arrested for a lamp base
The story about how I almost got arrested and made a lamp in the process.
Some lamps are quiet to make. This one was not! It is a heavy East German hammer drill, grey and serious, the kind of tool that was built to last a hundred years and probably will. When it came to me it still smelled of machine oil and an old shed.
The drill itself was the easy part. The trouble started when I went looking for something to stand it on. I told the whole story when the lamp was finished, so here it is, the way I wrote it then.
A present from a toolshed
As I was working on this old hammer drill, which I got as a present from the toolshed of my friend’s grandpa, I decided it needs a firm heavy base to stand on. In Berlin the streets are paved with huge granite stones. It seemed like it will be the perfect fit.
I waited until I found some sidewalk that is being renovated, and dragged a huge granite stone to the studio. It was too big and too heavy to lift, so I decided to cut it in half.
My granite monster
After trying different discs that are supposed to cut stone but did not seem to leave a mark on my granite monster, I went and bought a special diamond disc, thinking, if this doesn’t cut it, nothing will.
I forgot to mention that the process of cutting stone involves a lot of noise and even more dust.
Berlin granite is not a joke. These stones have had cars and bicycles and a hundred winters on top of them, and they don’t care at all about your little disc. I had grey dust in my hair for a week.
From the pavement to the bench
Here are the photos from the studio. First the stone alone on my yellow bench, with the cut in it. Then the drill sitting on top for the first time, to see if they like each other. Then standing up, almost ready, next to the sink.
Noise, dust and two police officers
I prepared a working space for myself outside, on the balcony of my studio, which is directly on the street. I put on heavy ear mufflers because I felt my ears ringing, and started cutting the stone as if my life depended on it.
I was so in my own noisy dusty world, fighting the granite, that I lost track of my surroundings. That is, until I took a break, turned off the saw and discovered an angry neighbour, accompanied by two German police officers with a scary look on their faces.
They were sure that I am cutting off a piece of the building’s facade, and were ready to come take me away.
At the end, after some explanations, they left me alone, and I got my granite base and a feeling of an outlaw at the same time.
Since then, granite
I still laugh when I walk past that balcony. And I still love this stone. It is heavy, so the lamp stands very solid on a desk or a shelf and nobody knocks it over. It is rough on the sides and flat where I cut it, so you can see the inside of the stone, all grey and black and little sparkles. A piece of the Berlin street, under a piece of East German history.
On top, an Edison bulb sits where the drill bit used to go, and there is a brass handle on the side to hold it. I think it belongs on a reception desk in a studio or an office, the kind of place where people wait for a few minutes and look around. It always gives them something to ask about.
The piece
DDR SDS Drill Lamp
Once an East German hammer drill from a friend’s grandfather’s toolshed, now a table lamp on a block of Berlin pavement granite. One E27 Edison bulb. One of one.