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Ettore Sottsass. Light between Art and Design.
Lighting up the international art scene with the avant-garde appeal of his pieces, Ettore Sottsass has been one of the most influential masters of Made in Italy design. His pioneering and revolutionary figure has applied the light experience to social investigation, opening the doors of Radical design and of a fearless aesthetic engaged in ethical, social and political issues. He took part several times in the Triennale of Milan, in 1981 he founded the Memphis group with Michele de Lucchi, Hans Hollein, Arata Isozaki, Andrea Branzi and other world-famous artists, giving rise to an unprecedented design language.
Tahiti is a symbol of eclecticism and poetry. This table lamp carries Ettore Sottsass' unique soul, revealing a new way of interpreting light not only connected to the function, but also to a vibrant, playful expression. Designed in 1981 for Memphis , this acknowledged design icon recalls a tropical bird with a long neck. The structure features a juxtaposition of basic geometrical shapes with bright colours. Parallelepipeds and cylinders fit together and playfully welcome the light bulb inside the "beak", which can be adjusted upwards and downwards.
Designed for Poltronova in 1970 and presented on the occasion of the third Eurodomus edition in Milan, Ultrafragola is a mirror inspired by Lewis Carrol and by his Alice in Wonderland novel. It is part of the Mobili Grigi line, it is almost two meters high and features an undulating grey frame with integrated neon lighting that, once turned on, lights up the atmosphere with delicate pink nuances.
Bringing into the scene a design object with endless grace and elegance, Sottsas twists the common use of the reading lamp. Callimaco features a structure characterized by a large base cone connected to its yellow tubular stem, juxtaposed in turn with a small red cone from where the light propagates. Refinement and functionality enrich classic and contemporary atmospheres with class. Sottsas designs the lamp taking his inspiration from two megaphones that emit light instead of sound. That is why the piece arises with provocation in the postmodern world.
Piccole o grandi, le sculture di luce di Ettore Sottsass custodiscono al loro interno l'idea e l'immagine del giglio fiorentino. Nelle lamine come nei suoi ovali di vetro, perfettamente centrati lungo lo stelo di metallo.
Un nome sascrito, rātriḥ, per una lampada da terra dallo charme misterioso, realizzata in vetro opalino di Murano e metallo. L’inconfondibile stile di Sottsass di sovrapporre elementi geometrici differenti, trova la sua ispirazione in terre orientali. “L'opera è il riflesso della notte. Elegante, misteriosa”
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