Once upon a time, we had a huge building which required the use of emergency exit lights. I replaced the old lights with newer ones and that left me with some really nice old fixtures to play with. It occurred to me to change the message of the sign, as a part of its transformation from utility to art. A convenient typographic and structural alternative was “FIX IT”. I liked that it changed the connotation from “the place is on fire, get the hell out” into “work to make it better”. So I figured out how to cut up the metal face of the sign, rearrange the pieces, and “Frankenstein” it back together. I added an on/off toggle switch and mounted it on an old microphone stand.

The back of the sign had previously been crudely cut open to get the electrical line in. I decided to make that a feature by cleaning up the jagged edges (just a little bit) and adding some covering it with red paper so that it casts a little red glow.

This is the third iteration of the Fixit Light, and my favorite so far.

 “Fixit Light #3” is available for further inspection and for sale at BingoBox on Etsy.