UMBRA

Even if today we still experience and contemplate the total eclipse as a true spectacle, the exact prediction of when and where it will happen dissipates the effect of this unexpected surprise.                               The manifestation of chance is thus at the heart of Umbra’s conceptual approach. In an age where the possibilities of control and command over objects reign and multiply, how can Design – on the contrary – trigger wonder and invite the unpredictable into everyday life?

By its kinetics, the object produces both shadow and light. When the mobile begins its course, the hand-hammered aluminum disk moves under the lamp, temporarily obscuring the beam of light and creating a shadow on the ground. At the same time and by inversion, it also reflects the light on the ceiling.

Driven by a random sequence, the «effect» of the eclipse always arises at different moments as the rotation time varies from one cycle to another and can be achieved in ten minutes as well as an hour. Through its unforeseeable nature, Umbra evolves according to its own system and questions our relationship with time in our living spaces.