How might you spend the day if you happened to be in Montreal this Valentine’s? Learning a bit of the local patois? Sampling the famed if decadent and exceedingly bizarre local fare called poutine? Hunkering down in Studio 65’s Bocca Lip Sofa with your sweetie pie in front of Spark Modern Fire’s linear burner while basking in the warm ambient glow of Periphere’s Blinding Love Lights? That last touch would be especially apropos given that Periphere has local ties. The company was founded in Montreal by Thien Ta Trung in May of 2008, since which time “the designer and his siblings have strived to remain independent in a world of corporations… Periphere’s unique furniture is made one piece at a time by hand to ensure a custom, exclusive, and intimate process is used in making each piece.”

Heart Pendant Lamps. Designed by Periephere.

An Anatomical Flourish for Classical Mood Lighting

Thien’s Blinding Love Lights present an unprecedented form for blown glass that’s possessed of a pronounced seasonal appeal. The pendant lamps eschew the traditional silhouette of the Valentine’s Day heart in favor of the somewhat messier outlines of the actual human heart. The result is an asynchronous design that duplicates this most crucial organ’s anatomy: we see the distinctive lines of ventricles, the unmistakable bulk of atria, even the central aperture of the left pulmonary artery.

This faithfulness to physiology might run the risk of an unsavory aesthetic, but in fact Blinding Love is quite comely. The piece’s crystal clear diffuser and bare incandescent bulb are both classically conceived, in spite of the unorthodox antecedent. Thus, Blinding Love packages the old in the guise of the new, while wearing its unbridled emotion on its very transparent sleeve. And isn’t that exactly what we want on Valentine’s Day?

Via MocoLoco.