LOT-EK 
SPACER LIGHT, 2023 
Spacer band, 15’-LED strip, cast rubber 
20 x 4 x 20 inches
 
One discarded steel spacer band is repurposed to make a light. A ‘spacer band’ is a steel ring at the core of flat-bed trucks’ wheels that needs routine replacement. LOT-EK encountered a pile of them on a dumpster in industrial New Jersey, loved their shape, simplicity, and wear, and pulled them out to transform them into circles of light. An entire LED light strip takes different circuitous paths in each spacer band, held by a cast in natural-color rubber.
 
LOT-EK is a studio working at the intersection of art and architecture. Their practice of upcycling is one of reimagining—they reclaim objects that our culture dismisses, finding beauty in the ordinary. LOT-EK’s projects span from art installations to housing, cultural spaces for communities and museums, retail and mobile buildings. LOT-EK is a tight group of creatives, each bringing their voice and heritage to a common project. The founding partners, Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano, live and work in New York, grew up in Naples, Italy, and teach at Columbia University GSAPP. LOT-EK’s awards include the United States Artists’ Booth Fellowship of Architecture & Design. Their work is included in MoMA’s collection and their second monograph, O+O: Objects + Operations, was published by Monacelli Press. WE START WITH THE THINGS WE FIND, a feature-length documentary by Thomas Piper, explores LOT-EK’s commitment to creatively respond to what humanity pushes aside.
 
Photo by Aaron S Cheung, Esto.