Alchemie

The antithesis between light and dark, between Sun and Moon, is everlasting, like part of the same flow of existence. Many allegorical meanings have been given to the necessary relationship between two elements that each exist as a consequence of the other. The new lamp Alchemie, designed by Giulia Archimede for Catellani & Smith, investigates this dimension whose components are diametrically opposed but always, and for ever, connected. Alchemie is an exquisite sculpture composed of two discs: the former, made of alabaster and lit by LEDs, stays fixed, while the latter slides on a track-base made of Medea limestone. The interaction between light and shade reaches its peak the moment when the two discs overlap and almost mimic an eclipse.