Retro Water Lighting: A Neon Ocean
 

I was clearing the spare room recently and came across my old lava lamp and with it came a flood of memories. I bought it when I was at university from a car boot sale and it proudly sat in the living room of the house that I shared with my three girlfriends throughout university. The lamp reminded me of coming home late, chilling out on our bean bags and talking through the night while listening to music; it represented freedom, independence and escape. Unfortunately when I plugged it in I discovered that the lava had long dried out so my mission was not over, no no! I was now determined to buy a new lava lamp. However, what I didn’t predict as I innocently searched the internet was the new generation of lava lamp inspired options available – I was faced with a wonderful abyss of possibilities. Clearing the spare room would have to wait!
 

Bubble & Glitter Lamps

These are a popular option for children’s rooms to aid a calming environment and some of them featured on children’s disability websites. I am not surprised as there is something more playful about the bubble lamp and glitter lamps with changing colours and faster movement. There also seemed to be a lot of people making their own liquid lava lamps. There are broadly two types of glitter lamps, "fast" glitter and "slow" glitter. Glitter lamps caused a safety scare in the early 1980's, due to the dodgy solvents used in some cheapo imports, therefore it would be a good idea to find a reputable company to buy from, especially if you are placing it in your children’s bedroom.

Water Speakers

Hold the phone! When I looked closer at what I thought was another liquid lamp they were actually speakers – water speakers. Given that I mostly enjoyed my lava lamp when music was playing in the background, the idea of music influencing the movement of the water and even the concept of combing water with sound was dumbfounding. Water and sound colliding into one creative movement – I was sold and when I told my husband about it even he was excited! But as I prepared to dispose of my old trusty lava lamp, I couldn’t do it.

The Lava Lamp Community

I will be getting water speakers – these need to exist in my world but the lava lamp still has a place in my heart. When I delved further into the subject I found the history of lava lamps fascinating; lava lamps have been casting their dim but groovy light on interiors for half a century and this month marks their 50th year on the British shelves. The design was created by British inventor Edward Craven-Walker, who was inspired by an odd-looking liquid-filled egg timer he saw in a pub in southwest Britain. The former World War II pilot then spent years transforming the concept into a home-lighting accessory, having recognised the potential for such an invention during anything-goes ’60s Britain. Everything has gone retro these days, which is a great excuse to dust off your old lava lamp, replenish its liquid and place it proudly back into pride of place in your home so it can work its magic. I have decided to fix my old one up and found several websites explaining how to replace the liquid. It turns out there is a quite a large lava loving community out there so I also joined a few forums and might even consider collecting lava and water lamps. Imagine if you had one room in the house that glowed with moving liquid while your water speakers pounded out your favourite music, it would be like chilling out inside your own private neon ocean; retro bliss.

By Nathalie Martin - @MartinNathalie9