The lighting objects 118 by Bocci connect clear and opaline glass to form a ball with unforseeable inner life, the complexity of which is emphasized by soft LED light. The design by Omer Arbel was developped in 2022. Since 2023, the collection has been included in the Bocci portfolio and comprises many suspensions and a small table lamp.
The glass shades of 118 are created by pushing melted opaline glass through the holes of a steel cage and embedding it in a surrounding layer of clear glass. The external shape is the one of a simple ball, yet with a complex inner life. Coming from the even grid, heat and gravity have an unpredictable influence on every opaline glass finger that takes on unique shapes. During the last work step, the cage is removed, cleaned and used again. The result is a ball of pure glass featuring minimal sockets and supporting structures and seemingly floating like a bunch of white feathers. The light of the LED light source located inside makes each detail of the complex glass structure come to light with precision.
The shape of every 118 depends on many uncontrollable factors such as the weather up to the glass blower's mood and the chemical composition of the glass. It is unforseeable and different from one exemplar to the other, so that each light 118 is a unique piece. There may be small irregularities such as air inclusions that testify of a careful manufacturing by hand.
Like all lights by Bocci, 118 is more a lighting object than a light fixture. Its light does not shine strong enough to illuminate a whole room and serves above all to emphasize its own delicate beauty and to attract the attention. 118 are wonderful glass sculptures that should seemingly be used singly but unfold their complete beauty in groups. Despite the appealing, uniform aesthetics, the details are not repeated, each single ball being a microcosmos of light, transparency and cloud-like shapes of its own. Arrangements of many balls attract the viewer with their endless variations.
Next to the here offered versions, on request, there are many further models, among them alternative ceiling roses and complex multiple suspensions especially for the project area. Depending on the selected suspensions system, the suspensions are available with up to 28 or even up to 61 glass balls. Please, note that the cable lengths cannot be adapted by the user when there are more than seven diffusers, but must be determined by Bocci. When ordering, the longest and the shortest lengths must be mentioned. Standard lengths are possible up to 3 m, special lengths up to 30 m.