The painter Georg Baselitz and the designer Ingo Maurer are among some 100 distinguished artists, designers and architects who are insisting that the EU’s decision to phase out the incandescent lamp be revoked. Georg Baselitz argues that the incandescent lamp plays a central role in the “philosophy” of lighting, and insists that he and his colleagues in the arts do not want to be deprived of the right to choose the type and manner of lighting for their work. Halogen lamps, they maintain, are essential for lighting works of art, architectural spaces, stage sets and building façades.
British studies show that energy consumption in private homes has risen since the so-called energy-saving lamps came into use. According to the findings, when ordinary incandescent lamps give off less heat, households make greater use of their central heating to make up for the loss. The savings are therefore negligible, since the money saved on electricity is added back in higher heating bills.
On 22 April 2010, activist artists from German-speaking Europe submitted a petition to the European Commission in Brussels, rejecting the decision to phase out the incandescent lamp. The petition is signed by the following artists and designers:
Volker Albus, Georg Baselitz, Hilla Becher, Stephan Berg, Daniel Birnbaum, Christian Boros, Marc Brandenburg, Arno Brandlhuber, Mark Braun, Joachim Brohm, André Buchmann, Daniel Buren, Anthony d’Offay, Thomas Demand, Marie-Theres Deutsch, Jörg Ebers, Clemens Fahnemann, Harald Falckenberg, Yvonne Fehling und Jennie Peiz, Thomas Florschuetz, Ceal Floyer, Hubertus Gaßner, Ingvild Goetz, Bärbel Grässlin, Thomas Grässlin, Durs Grünbein, Andreas Gursky, Nanette Hagstotz, Mathias Hahn, Jitka Hanzlová, Harald Hauswald, Eberhard Havekost, Wulf Herzogenrath, Julian Heynen, Candida Höfer, Carsten Höller, Klaus Honnef, Janneke de Vries, Gregor Jansen, Ann Veronica Janssens, Daniel Josefsohn, Johannes Kahrs, Astrid Klein, Barbara Klemm, Hans Kollhoff, Karola Kraus, Mateo Kries, Mischa Kuball, Daniel Lergon, Veit Loers, Philomene Magers, Ingo Maurer, Andreas Mühe, Heike Munder, Carsten Nicolai, Jennie Peiz, Susanne Pfeffer, Tobias Rehberger, Anselm Reyle, Bernhart Schwenk, Werner Spies, Monika Sprüth, Urs Stahel, Julia Stoschek, Katja Strunz, Thomas Struth, Hadi Teherani, Matteo Thun, Rosemarie Trockel, Philipp von Matt, Michael Werner, Thomas Weski, Robert Wilson, Rein Wolfs, Beat Wyss, Felix Zdenek, Ralf Ziervogel, Michael Zimmermann, Armin Zweite.
Source: PLD Magazine
