LUCE estratti LUCE 313_Ceresoli_Alma Mater | Page 7

of the earth’s crust or of the moon; it
all depends on the point of view. These
mysterious light sources gradually illumi-
nate the shadowy spaces with modulated
glows of light disseminated around the
Terzo Paradiso by Michelangelo Pistoletto,
symbol of the balance between the nat-
ural world, the artificial, and the human
one; laid on the floor, it is for the first
time made of Lombard peat: a fertile and
generous soil, just like Nature. The discs
(170 cm in diameter), floating like planets
around the Earth, reconfigure and alter
the perception of space, they materialize
organic luminous bodies that emanate an
indescribable feeling, a wish to return to
the womb of the Earth, beyond the dark-
ness, up to the threshold of life, where
everything originates, and where spirit
and matter coexist in a perfect balance.
The author-craftsman, Parmesan by origin
and Lombard by adoption, passionate
entrepreneur by vocation of bright objects
shaping and experimenting with the ex-
pressive potential of different materials,
is the founder of “Catellani e Smith”,
based in Villa al Serio (Bergamo), since
1989. He does not define himself as design-
er nor artist, because it embarrasses him;
he use to say, with the ironic verve of who
never takes himself too seriously, that he
loves the culture of doing, of giving body
to the light by chasing visions of original
shapes, unique, out of fashion and trends,
with the honesty of a genuine “workman”
with his hands knead in the matter, like a
passionate magician inventing forms that
are on the borderline between the func-
tionalist tradition and organic inspiration,
a bio-science that does not exist in nature.
His lamps, explicitly inspired by the
nature and the cosmos, have conquered
the international market and characterize
the Italian excellence in the competitive
world of lighting production, where noth-
ing is as easy as it looks.
LUCE 313
Alma Mater
photo © R.Sanzone
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