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Object Timeline

-0001	We photographed this object.
1999	Work on this object began.
2010	We acquired this object. We photographed this object. We photographed this object.
2014	We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Moss Lamp

This is a lamp. It was designed by Gaetano Pesce. It is dated 1999 and we acquired it in 2010. Its medium is silicone, plastic, metal. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.

The notable Italian architect and designer Gaetano Pesce has been designing furniture and other objects since the 1960s. A number of his works are considered icons of 20th-century design. He is particularly noted for his experimental forms in resin and other synthetics, which emphasize the creative process in fabricating functional designs in modern materials.
Pesce’s Moss lamp exemplifies his approach to “industrialized non-conformity.” He utilizes modern fabrication techniques associated with mass-production and combines those with contemporary materials to produce unique objects. To create the Moss lamp, supple silicone is poured and trailed to achieve a basic sphere—but it is not a perfect form. The end result is dictated by the behavior of the material. The form encloses a single incandescent light source that casts a soft glow through the interstices and varied thicknesses of the translucent thread-like trailings of the silicone body. The textured surface also invites the user’s touch and its surprisingly warm, soft, and malleable form evokes an emotional response.
The Moss lamp proposed for acquisition is a prototype.

This object was donated by Marlene Meyerson. It is credited Gift of Marlene Meyerson.

Print, The Third Knot (Interlace Pattern with White Medallion)

Print, The Third Knot (Interlace Pattern with White Medallion)
woodcut on off-white laid paper.
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1944-37-1-b

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bent epoxy-coated steel, hand woven dyed cotton rope, aluminum.
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2007-39-1

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Its dimensions are

H x diam.: 45.7 x 38.1 cm (18 x 15 in.)

Cite this object as

Moss Lamp; Designed by Gaetano Pesce (Italian, b. 1939); USA; silicone, plastic, metal; H x diam.: 45.7 x 38.1 cm (18 x 15 in.); Gift of Marlene Meyerson; 2010-11-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Making Design.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2E8pc/
Accession Number 2010-11-1
Object ID 18755645