British lava lamp maker Mathmos has collaborated with artist and designer Sabine Marcelis on an installation for her first solo exhibition, Light and Color, at Museum für Gestaltung Zürich. The exhibition opened on 30 October 2026 and runs until 4 April 2027, the company said in its announcement in October.
Alongside the exhibition, the two have produced a new Limited Edition Mathmos Astro lava lamp in Bubblegum pink, which was scheduled to launch on 5 November.
01An infinite lava landscape
The installation, Mathmos Lava Columns, is an immersive environment within the exhibition. It uses eight 256cm-high column lamps set within a mirrored installation to create the illusion of an infinite lava landscape. According to the release, the reflections turn the columns from individual objects into a continuous spatial experience, dissolving the boundaries of the room.
The Mathmos X Studio Sabine Marcelis Column lava lamp is available in three lava colourways, but the installation features only the Bubblegum version, as pink is a colour strongly associated with Marcelis’ work. Each column has a frosted finish that softly diffuses the moving lava. For readers interested in how light is handled in interior settings, our piece on specifying downlights for visual comfort looks at a more practical side of the subject.
The columns measure 50cm in diameter and weigh 38 kg, with an aluminium base and frosted glass bottle, both made in Britain. They are available exclusively from Mathmos websites and are made to order, with an approx. 6-8 weeks turnaround for delivery.
Sabine Marcelis said: “I always wanted to design a giant lava lamp; that was the thought I had in my very first meeting with Mathmos. The lava lamp is one of the only objects that has light, colour and translucency all in one. It does what I try to do with resin and glass, but it adds the dimension of time and movement.”
Light and Color brings together furniture, lighting, mirrors and large-scale spatial installations from across her practice. “What I wanted to create was not a retrospective in the traditional sense but a series of spatial experiences that show how light and colour behave across different scales and materials,” she said.
02A limited-edition Astro
The new Astro lamp shares the white metal and pastel Bubblegum pink lava formula of the columns. It is the fourth Astro collaboration between Mathmos and Sabine Marcelis, and the edition is limited to 1,000 lamps worldwide, each with an individually numbered sticker on the base. The release notes that previous limited-edition Astro collaboration lamps sold out within hours of launching. The lamp is priced at £190 or 225€.
03Made in Dorset
All Mathmos lava lamps are made at its factory in Poole, Dorset, and have been manufactured in the UK since the company was founded in 1963 by Edward Craven Walker. Marcelis travelled to the factory to sign off the final prototypes.
Cressida Granger, Managing Director of Mathmos, said: “Working with Sabine is always very successful; she brings a fresh approach which is popular with our customers. It is a genuine meeting of British heritage and design innovation. This time was particularly collaborative as we were able to welcome her to our factory, the home of the original lava lamp, to sign off the prototypes in person.”
Details and image via Mathmos.
