Silvia Grimaldi‘s Surprise! series explores the use of surprising elements in design and the effect the surprise can have on emotional attachment and the memory of the experience.

On-Edge is a lamp which only switches on when it is off the edge of the table. When it is fully on the table, it goes off. Besides, from far away the lamp resembles frosted glass. So the first reaction of people seeing it hanging off the edge of the table is “Oh no! It’s going to fall�. The lamp is made of rubber, so if it falls it won’t break, but even knowing this the gut reaction is so engrained that it will still be present.

When you sit on the (un-) stable stool its legs start splaying, and it feels like you’re going to collapse, but it soon stops and is a ctually more functional because it’s more stable.

Via Design and Emotion.