Chris Buchakjian was born and raised in upstate New York. He studied cinema and sculpture at Hofstra University on Long Island. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in filmmaking, he relocated to Los Angeles and oscillated between filmmaking and visual art. This combination of skills prepared him for the specialized career of lighting design in remote and formidable locations. He developed several lighting tools for filming in unconventional locations: caves, tombs and tunnels all over the globe . In between film projects, Chris continued work as a technical designer for visual and installation artists. These projects taught him necessary lessons in process refinement, acceptable tolerances, and the pleasure of drilling holes in landmark architecture. He has an affinity for fasteners and for glossy finishes.
Utility Narratives
I consider design to be a form of creative non-fiction. My work is focused on communicating narratives that are personally and presently relevant.Objects are messengers. Objects store their influence in sheaths of utility. These messengers operate by implicating the user. When individuals are able to use an object, their personal narratives become intertwined with that object’s narrative. Commerce has a way of anointing design; transforming designs (small ‘d’) into products. A high fidelity design can more easily maneuver into reality. Every effort is made to employ exact materials, tolerances, manufacturing process and finishes. The exactness of a design’s execution is proportionate to the clarity of that object’s narrative.
