Many people, on first seeing our perspex artworks, assume that they are made of glass. The material certainly appears similar, but it's actually acrylic glass, of which Perspex® and Plexiglas® are two of the leading brand names. As the material base for our signature, transparent artworks, acrylic glass has several advantages over glass.
One thing we all crave is an inspiring view. If you're lucky enough to enjoy an amazing view from your outdoor space, well, sit back and relax. But if you live in an urban environment, and you're feeling hemmed in, our treescape perspex artworks can be used to create a stunning new view where there is none.
We love the venerable yet completely contemporary V&A and we love it even more during the annual London Design Festival when it becomes the creative hub of the festival.
Our favourite installation this year would have to be the wonderful 'Mise en Abyme' by designers Laetitia de Allegri and Matteo Fogale which made use of our signarture material: perspex or acrylic glass.
Cut out sheets of various tints of perspex were arranged so as to create a tunnel and designed to distort perspective across the bridge that links the V&A museum's Medieval and Renaissance sculpture galleries.
Stained glass was used a lot during the Renaissance but the designers chose perspex as an alternative to glass because it has the same characteristics and beautiful colours but without the fragility or weight, contrasting with the heavy marble all around.
The irregular openings cut out from each panel gradually become smaller along the route while the tints become darker, exaggerating the perspective when looking through the tunnel formed by the overlapping sheets. The grout lines of tiles lining the bridge further enhance the illusion of exaggerated depth, creating a more immersive experience.
Mise-en-Abyme translates from French as "placed into abyss", and refers to the artistic technique that shows an image containing a smaller copy of itself in a recurring sequence.
A fabulous metaphorical bridging of the Renaissance Period and Contemporary Design through a thoroughly Modern material.