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Grip Flashlight
This is a flashlight. It is dated 2012 and we acquired it in 2012. Its medium is silicone rubber, led light source. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.
The Praxis Grip flashlight, designed by Alexander Taylor, was released in September, 2012, and made its debut in a bold red version at the Conran Shop’s RED exhibition during the London Design Festival. Taylor designed this LED flashlight in response to the rubber material brief of the first Praxis collection.
The Grip flashlight utilizes silicone rubber, which has many advantages over conventional plant-based rubber: silicone rubber is resistant to extreme temperatures, has excellent tensile and tear strength, and is inert, which means it does not react with most chemicals or other materials. Accordingly, it is used in many food preparation and medical applications, and for medical implants.
Taylor employs a considered and intelligent approach to design. For this utilitarian flashlight, he drew inspiration from the form of a simple cylindrical BMX (bicycle motocross) handlebar grip. The flashlight’s textured soft rubber handle is comfortable to grasp and hold. The narrow cylindrical form leads directly to a broad conical rubber head that surrounds a bright central LED light source behind a small lens. In addition to protecting the lens, the soft rubber head acts like a suction cup and can stick to any horizontal or vertical surface. The light is turned on and off via a push button in the flat end of the handle. In addition to red, Praxis produces the Grip in four colors—blue, yellow, black, and white.
The Grip flashlight would be the first 21st-century design added to the museum’s collection of flashlights. The collection’s holdings characterize changes in 20th-century lighting technology, from incandescent to halogen bulbs, in metal and plastic housings designed to be useful in a variety of settings, including emergency situations. The Grip flashlight represents some of the latest developments in lighting and materials technologies, and would be a welcome addition to the collection.
This object was
donated by
George R. Kravis II.
It is credited Gift of George R. Kravis II.
- Good Grips Prototype: Handle Form Study
- carved foam.
- Gift of Smart Design, Inc..
- 2011-50-1
- Saft B-12 Flashlight
- polypropelene.
- Museum purchase from General Exhibitions Funds.
- 1989-103-6
- Taxi Wand Flashlight
- molded plastic, led.
- Gift of Julia A. Haiblen.
- 1998-39-1-a,b
Our curators have highlighted 9 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:
- Lite Years Flashlight
- molded plastic, metal.
- Gift of Barbara and Max Pine.
- 1993-133-4
- Leveron Door Handle Attachment
- molded plastic.
- Gift of Lindustries.
- 2014-47-2
- Bright Star Flashlight
- injection-molded plastic.
- Gift of Barbara and Max Pine.
- 1993-133-12
Its dimensions are
L x diam.: 14.6 x 9.5 cm (5 3/4 x 3 3/4 in.)
Cite this object as
Grip Flashlight; England; silicone rubber, led light source; L x diam.: 14.6 x 9.5 cm (5 3/4 x 3 3/4 in.); Gift of George R. Kravis II; 2012-20-1
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibitions Energizing the Everyday: Gifts From the George R. Kravis II Collection and Making Design.
