To just call Arik Levy a designer would be an understatement, as he’s an all-rounder who is always active in several different fields at once; he works as an artist and photographer, with an output including sculptures, videos and much more besides. For the current Salone, Levy joined forces with Bohemia’s glass specialists Lasvit and created a series of extraordinary luminaires for them called “Crystal Rock”. He himself talks of sculpturally shaped crystals that sparkle during both the day and the night as if they were not made of simple glass but from “Kryptonite”, those magic crystals from Superman’s home planet.
And Levy does indeed succeed in shaping individually faceted shapes from heat-resistance glass, and while they may not come from the planet Krypton they capture the play of light and shadow in a marvelous manner if the light changes. In daylight the crystal luminaires look like iceblocks that have started to melt, and if the LEDs are turned on, they start to sparkle all the more mysteriously. The magic crystal blocks are available in various versions, crystal clear, satin white, blue, red, or with a tender gold. Whether they have a similar effect on people as Kryptonite does on Kryptons is not known. Arik Levy says you only have to lean back, gaze upwards, and you’ll think something from another world is moving you. (tw)
Lasvit Emotions
Exhibition with Daniel Libeskind, Maarten Baas, Michael Young, Arik Levy, Maxim Velčovský, Petra Krausová, Libor Sošťák, Jakub Nepraš, Jan Plecháč and Henry Wielgus
Officine Stendhal
Via Stendhal 35, Milan
8-13 April 2014, 10-8 PM
Lasvit Showroom
Via Gaspare Bugatti 15, Milan
8–13 April 2014, 10.00 – 20.00
