The Pixelation Luminaire is a result of an eight week long exploration of light and shadow.  Through a series of exercises dealing with shadow panels, bounced color, and light manipulation the concept of pixelating shadows with a light screen emerged.  The goal was to create a luminaire light modulator that is as equally visually intriguing an object as its shadow.  This idea emerged from early findings and intriguing discoveries involving the ability to recognize familiarity of man-made structure from shadows.  By seeing a shadow on a two dimensional surface one can hypothesize and picture the physical object that is creating the shadow.  The element of mystery should not be fully taken out, but a slight hint of familiarity and guesswork is part of the intrigue in order to raise curiosity.  The pattern creating the lamp shade is a collection of one rectangular unit, a “pixel�,  that renders the image of the luminaire and its shadows.  As a visual graphic concept, the pixels seem to fall from above creating the lampshade over the light source with decreasing openings that allow the projection of light.  This can also be visually read the other direction, meaning the pixels are elevating toward the ceiling, releasing more light into a space.   After a series of prototyping, testing various screen patterns, lighting conditions, and even color, the final design emerged as a simplified version of variables that interact to create the fixture’s effects.  The luminaire screen is made up of a system of double screens arranged in a triangular plan layout, which was a result of experimentation with the light source’s relationship to the screens.  The ability to position the lamp at different distances to a vertical surface like a wall while still being able to view the projected shadows was the main driver.  The path of light from the source projects outward reflecting and bouncing between the two layers as well as illuminating the edges and the areas around the opening in the screen.  This creates a warm glow especially using an incandescent light source, as seen in the images.  Throughout the process of prototyping the dimensions of “pixelation� and testing out different distances between the double screen shade, it became apparent that the process of discovery while adjusting the different variables is a large part of the essence of this project.  Therefor I decided to produce a final installation that would introduce the element of playfulness and variability by the users.  Even during construction the decision to keep the inner layer of planes removable and not fixed was a direct result of this concept of variability and user interaction.  The dimmer switch adds another element of adjustability.  The phenomena of distorted shadows determined by the distance of surfaces to the luminaire offer a playful exploration to the user as one fine-tunes the desired pattern of shadow.  The pixelation luminaire is meant to serve as a playful interaction of light and shadow creating a unique ambience.