|| From physics to metaphysics, the shape of the dodecahedron is inscribed in history as a major and mysterious archetype.

 

In the Timée dialogue (circa 358 BC), Platon thinks of a geometrization of the world, he associates each of the four elements (Earth, Air, Water and Fire) to a regular solid.

 

|| In this "primal" gesture of design, Platon associates the dodecahedron with the 5th solid, the 5th element representing "the god used to arrange the constellations all over the sky". This quintessence, literally, will be renamed "aithêr" ("aether" in Latin, "ether" in French) by Aristotle to define this element of which the universe is made and which is consubstantial with all the others (this notion of ether will last until the 19th century).

{In the 2nd and 3rd centuries, it is found in Europe in the form of religious objects, "magic", worship, divination.}

 

|| More contemporary, a mysterious reminiscence of Platonic geometry emerges in the heart of the work of the astrophysicist Jean-Pierre Luminet (a world-renowned specialist for his work on cosmology). Based on the analysis of certain anomalies in the observations of the cosmic microwave background, he proposes in 2003 an interpretation of these anomalies as being a signature indicating that the universe would have the topology of a Poincaré dodecahedral space.

Would the universe be ontologically a dodecahedron?

To conclude, the dodecahedron is also present in the natural state in the form of pyrite crystals. }

 

 

 

|| Æther is a first step that proposes to integrate this "quintessential" form into a "domestic cosmos", by giving it a symbolic function of lighting.

It is a journey along the frontier between archetype, geometric abstraction and ontological reality, frontier possibly permeable if we believe the work of Jean-Pierre Luminet.

This gesture is part of a more global approach which want to integrate major and mysterious archetypes into a personal space, in order to question fertility and interactions. ||

 

|| Æther is rewritten here, in a sandstone and oak version that highlights the sandstone of Fontainebleau. The most abrasive stone in the world, it is unused in the decorative and artistic sphere. {Francisco de Oliveira, who manages the last quarry still in activity producing sandstone pavers of Fontainebleau says that it is the only stone that can scratch the diamond}.

In some places, the sandstone has organic, inlaid vegetal networks that have absorbed over time thanks to its natural porosity.

 

A first technical challenge was raised to obtain thin faces (4-6mm) without breaking the stone. A second original technique was developed to polish this sandstone, considered "impossible" by many stonemason and marble workers. ||