Modern Mosaics

The other week I visited the Surface Design Show in London, and several companies were showing mosaic style tiles in neutral shades. Here are my favourites - above is Estrela Nero and Cubo Nero from Vicalvi. And below is Frame by Refin

To me they are reminiscent of Victorian tiles, refined for modern tastes. I like this re-introduction of patterning for floors especially after years of plain surfaces.

This is the Frame flooring in a retail environment but I think it would look equally fabulous in an open plan living area.

Light Show at The Hayward

I visited the Light Show at the Hayward Gallery yesterday. It's not the sort of show that I would have put at the top of my to do list, although I had seen the good reviews. But a friend of mine suggested it, so off we went. There are too many installations that I could rave about, so I'm just going to concentrate on Carlos Cruz Diez's Chromasaturation. 

Here's an explanation -“The Chromosaturation is an artificial environment composed of three color chambers, one red, one green and one blue that immerse the visitor in a completely monochrome situation. This experience creates disturbances in the retina, accustomed to receive wide range of colors simultaneously. The Chromosaturation can act as a trigger, activating in the viewer the notion of color as a material or physical situation, going into space without the aid of any form or even without any support, regardless of cultural beliefs”

It's almost impossible to describe the effect the coloured light has on your visual perception, as you move from one chamber to the next. It so disturbs the retina that at one stage we thought we were devoid of colour, visible in sepia or almost black and white. Quite extraordinary, disturbing and breath-taking all at once. Brilliant!