We are delighted to announce our collaboration with Bert & May for the London Design Festival 2016.
Split Shift includes a collection of new fabrics, encaustic tiles and a bold new paint colour, Darkroom Black.
For LDF 2015, Darkroom created a bespoke triptych of hand-painted plates for Berts Barge. The piece celebrated the beauty of three simple geometric shapes: circle, square, triangle — each coming from the heart of Darkroom’s signature aesthetic. The shapes appear pushed off the side of the plates, slipping visually over onto the neighbouring plate. For the shapes to be seen as a whole, the plates need to be aligned in a certain order. In so doing, the shapes and plates are at odds yet completely connected for the time they stay in formation.
The concept of pushing a shape across different pieces has been expanded upon to create a set of 3 hand-poured encaustic tiles. The tiles have a certain ‘correct’ formation when the shapes are completed, yet when the formation is disturbed, it comes alive with a myriad of permutations.
For LDF16, Darkroom has created an installation using the 3 tiles that highlights the core 3 shapes explored in the tiles. The limitless permutations of pattern that can be achieved by placing the 3 tiles in different formations is explored from the most structured to the most random.
Bert’s Barge has been fully taken over by Darkroom for LDF16, with the interior designed by Darkroom Director Rhonda Drakeford showcasing the tiles, fabric and paint. A special pop-up shop is on board to launch the A/W collection of Darkroom products.