Still groovy
Lava lamps experiencing a revival thanks to Gen Z
Lava lamps are once again erupting in popularity. The groovy, gooey decor staple has found new life on Tiktok and, looking at Google Trend data, online searches in Canada are among the highest they've been in the past five years.
We may have gen Z to thank. The demographic, now aged between 12 and 27, is moving away from the interior design esthetics their predecessors loved in favour of something all their own. So out with minimalism and in with maximalism. Midcentury modern gives way to postmodern, and farmhouse becomes funhouse.
As a result, we've seen trippy trends like squiggle mirrors, mushroom motifs, warped checkerboard patterns and LED light strips. With their roots in 1960s psychedelia, Lava lamps fit right in. Not only that, but the chill vibe can be an antidote to modern stresses.
“In today's digital world filled with screens, people seek analog experiences that bring calm through simplicity, making our Lava brand motion lamps a soothing visual retreat,” says Bryan Katzel, vice-president of product development at Schylling Inc., which now owns the trademarks for the product.
As otherworldly as Lava lamps seem, their origins are domestic.
British entrepreneur Edward Craven Walker got the idea for them after seeing an unusual liquid-filled egg timer in a pub.
Walker developed the concept into a home lighting accessory for his company Mathmos and launched it in 1963 under the name Astro Lamp. An American company later bought the rights and renamed it Lava.
So just how does a Lava lamp work, and what's that ever-buoyant blob made of ?
“The exact recipe is a proprietary secret, but a key ingredient is the solvent carbon tetrachloride, which adds weight to the otherwise buoyant wax,” says Smithsonian Magazine. “The heat source at the bottom of the lamp liquefies the waxy blob. As it expands, its density decreases and it rises to the top — where it cools, congeals and begins to sink back down.”
Likewise, the lamps have bubbled up into the spotlight over the decades. Early on, Beatles drummer Ringo Starr bought one and they've been featured in 1960s British shows such as The Prisoner and Doctor Who.
When the 1990s and 2000s arrived with a retro-future esthetic, Lava lamps rode another wave of popularity. Duran Duran's 2000 album Pop Trash, for example, features a song titled Lava Lamp. The group also released a limited-edition version of the Astro lamp through Mathmos in 2023.
“Lava lamps are part of pop culture,” founding member Nick Rhodes explained to Financial Times. “You see them in recording studios and there's something about them that always makes me smile — that gelatinous goo melting and morphing.”