Berkeley Lighthouse

Jul 25

Seeing the Light

Summer at Berkeley, Lecture 5

“Seeing the Light”

Lighthouse by John Berkeley for Donay

“Lighthouses are endlessly suggestive signifiers of both human isolation and our ultimate connectedness to each other” - Virginia Woolf

There is something so evocative about a lighthouse. I’ve written about this sentiment before, but I can’t hold a candle to Virginia Woolf, who says it so much more eloquently. The image of a lonely tower at the edge of a cliff, tended for the sole purpose of guiding others in the dark, is a simple reminder of the soul of our humanity, alone in our own lives yet simply needing to reach out to connect with each other.

“A fallen lighthouse is more dangerous than a reef” - Navjot Singh Sidhu

I’m also drawn to this quote in the wake of John Lewis’s death. Lewis was a pivotal figure in the American civil rights movement, perhaps a “lighthouse” who shone selflessly. He was beaten, practically to death, by the storm, and still saw a generation through to a brighter day. His death indeed marks a light that has gone out.

Finely turned details set this one apart

The history of the lighthouse is ancient, dating back over two thousand years to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria. Design, optics and purpose have changed over the centuries into our modern version of the lighthouse, which is now meant to warn of danger rather than welcome travelers to a city port. The light itself was one of the most innovative inventions of its time, and one that had huge impact on global navigation (“the invention that saved a million ships”). The "Fresno lens" was first employed in 1823 with a light that could be seen for more than twenty miles. These lenses could magnify light, their essential and primary purpose, but they were also objects of true geometric artistic beauty, using up to one thousand separate prisms in their construction. It’s no wonder the lighthouse has captivated our attention for ages. The Victorians were no different, and one of the many turned puzzle creations found in Professor Hoffman’s compendium is a lighthouse. There have been a few notable modern day homages to Hoffman’s Lighthouse. A beautiful brass version of this puzzle was made in the nineties by Doug Haigh, another Englishman who created a very limited set of custom made turned puzzles in brass for the magician John Ergatoudis. And one of the most impressive and beautiful creations by Robert Yarger was his own version of the lighthouse puzzle.

The Lighthouse by Matt Grippo

John Berkeley’s reproduction is also a thing of beauty, significantly elevated from the Victorian versions. He utilized three different woods in the design and added many fine details and touches. It was arguably his favorite puzzle of all, he says, particularly the miniature version, and required many specific steps to be created in order. He had a few interesting ideas for his lighthouse, but the most notable was the light itself. In his original pieces the “light” was made from Boxwood, which contrasted nicely with the body, base and accents that were made from Rosewood and Blackwood. In later versions, he had the inspired idea to use transparent Perspex (acrylic) for the "light". He recalls getting suggestions to wire a real bulb light into these as well, but never pursued this unnecessary level of complexity. The Lighthouse puzzle employs a clever use of the same principle found in the Arabi Gun, with the goal of removing the trapped ring from the body.

It's de-light-ful

Continuing the lighthouse theme, we have a cocktail from San Francisco bartender and manager at Blackbird, Matt Grippo. This was his first creation on the menu at the bar, and originally was barrel aged for 6 weeks. It’s equally satisfying and delicious as is, with plenty of balance between the rich aged rum and very dry sherry, hit of the lime and touch of almond and ginger sweetness from the falernum. It will provide just the right amount of light to any evening. Class dismissed – cheers!