Cluster by Matti Klenell, Katja Pettersson, Simon Klenell, Åsa Jungnelius, Ludvig Löfgren, Stina Löfgren, Gabriella Gustafson, Monica Backström, Mattias Ståhlbom and Carina Seth Andersson for The Glass Factory in collaboration with The National Museum in Stockholm is a chandelier manufactured by The Glass Factory and Örsjö lighting with the production-workshop method. Two bigger versions have a home in the Nationalmuseum’s new restaurant at Blasieholmen in Stockholm. As the museum building has been undergoing extensive renovations, a project was initiated with the goal of giving a collective of designers the opportunity to work together, explore materials and methods, discover old and new producers, and ultimately provide museum visitors with insights into the design process as well as the ability to use the results. The chandelier is the project’s clearest example of how several designers and manufacturers work closely with each other. In a joint workshop they have developed and produced the various parts of the chandelier into a whole. The project’s core group – Swedish designers Matti Klenell, Carina Seth Andersson, Gabriella Gustafsson, Mattias Ståhlbom and Stina Löfgren – set the concept and guidelines for the individual lamps.
They subsequently expanded the group with Monica Backström, Åsa Jungnelius, Sinom Klenell, Ludvig Löfgren and Katja Pettersson. For a week, all the designers gathered in The Glass Factory’s hot shop to work with glassblowers, mould makers from Fantasilaboratoriet, grinders and Örsjö lighting designer and technicians.
The result is the prototype now shown at Light Blowing 2018. The individual lamps will be launched at The Glass Factory in spring 2019.

Cluster by Matti Klenell, Katja Pettersson, Simon Klenell, Åsa Jungnelius, Ludvig Löfgren, Stina Löfgren, Gabriella Gustafson, Monica Backström, Mattias Ståhlbom e Carina Seth Andersson per The Glass Factory in collaborazione
con The National Museum in Stockholm, ph. Cristina Galliena Bohman

Cluster by Matti Klenell, Katja Pettersson, Simon Klenell, Åsa Jungnelius, Ludvig Löfgren, Stina Löfgren, Gabriella Gustafson, Monica Backström, Mattias Ståhlbom e Carina Seth Andersson per The Glass Factory in collaborazione
con The National Museum in Stockholm, ph. Cristina Galliena Bohman

Cluster by Matti Klenell, Katja Pettersson, Simon Klenell, Åsa Jungnelius, Ludvig Löfgren, Stina Löfgren, Gabriella Gustafson, Monica Backström, Mattias Ståhlbom e Carina Seth Andersson per The Glass Factory in collaborazione
con The National Museum in Stockholm, ph. Cristina Galliena Bohman

Lotus – table lamp designed by Serena Confalonieri for Mason Editions – makes its debut at Light Blowing 2018 in new special finishes available in limited edition conceived for the Venetian event. With its fascinating shape and inebriating scent, for many Asian cultures, the lotus flower symbolises elegance, beauty, perfection, purity and grace. The stand of this magical flower is a cone in enamel-coated metal and brass, which narrows towards the top to house the luminous core. Like a bud opening up in the sunlight, Lotus unfolds its petals consisting of three separate blown glass elements. They gently filter the light to create an intimate and discreet atmosphere.

Lotus

Lotus by Serena Confalonieri per Mason Editions, ph. Cristina Galliena Bohman

 

Light Blowing 2018, ph. Cristina Galliena Bohman

The Medusa Bloom by Ochre is a lighting installation created to resemble a large group (or Bloom) of jellyfish that gather in a small area. Composed of 76 hand blown glass pieces apparently freely floating in the air, this sculptural and immersive installation – designed by Ochre through the inspiration of nature – is composed of three different groups of lights suspended at different heights forming intriguing luminous curves and waves which hints at a group of floating jellyfish. Each unique piece is created from optical glass, which is incredibly dense and pure and has a much higher refractive index than normal glass. Contrary to expectations, the creation of these randomly-shaped ‘organic’ pieces requires
the constant attention and interaction of the glass blower to counteract the normal behaviour of molten glass. A grey/green pigment, reminiscent of the ocean is applied to the inner cavity of each of these undulating pieces. The Medusa Bloom can be appreciated both as a beautiful piece of art sculpture when the light is off, to an eye-catching and functional piece when it is illuminated.

The Medusa Bloom by Ochre, ph. Cristina Galliena Bohman

The Medusa Bloom by Ochre, ph. Cristina Galliena Bohman

Crystal by Soffi is a lighting installation composed of different coloured clusters of three Crystal pendants. These are designed with a crisp, faceted design, with the bottom edges cut on a bias to reflect the essence of the shape of natural crystals emphasized by a mottled, reflective texture. Expressly conceived for the Light Blowing 2018 exhibition project, this new lighting installation will offer a different interpretation of the pendants by assembling them in different coloured hues for an unexpected final effect.

Cluster by Soffi, ph. Cristina Galliena Bohman

Cluster by Soffi, ph. Cristina Galliena Bohman

However, this is more than just an exhibition project. Starting from the 2018 edition, Light Blowing is becoming a stable, continuous format, marked by research and consultancy activities aimed at stimulating the ever-closer comparison between design and blown glass in open dialogue with the Murano glass making tradition and the most important international centres of glass production. An institutional network of partners and professionals in the sector will also enable it to operate continuously throughout the year. The new website www.lightblowing.com will have the task updating all of the events on an ongoing basis.