Through the Looking Glass

One of my favorite past times as a child was walking around with a mirror, held horizontally, and imagining that I was walking on the ceiling.  This gave me an entirely new perspective on the space in which I lived, and guaranteed endless entertainment. Grasping everything from a hand mirror to a picture size mirror so as to increase the effect, I would carefully step over door headers and ceiling beams, skirt around light fixtures and plunge into the abyss above a staircase. The magic of the mirror has never ceased to fascinate me.

Photograph by Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

The New Museum in New York recently hosted "Carsten Holler: Experience",  where you could don a pair of "upside-down-goggles" so that your eyes would do a back flip. The show was hailed as an art world amusement park and included corkscrew slides, a sensory deprivation tank, and light shows that would leave you hallucinating. Just my kind of show!  For those of you who missed it, I recommend the my old-fashioned method of walking around your home with as big a mirror as you can manage, an epsom salt bath, and some psychedelic drugs (Steve Jobs would approve). 

I was amazed to find this unique clothing boutique image in my files. I believe it may be in Paris, showing a room completely upside down. Just imagine how discombobulating but fun it must be! Just imagine the designer selling the concept to the client: "Let's make the showroom upside down"! The herringbone parquet installers might not have been so enthralled, but obviously the client took the bait.

Christie's auction of The Collection of Will Fisher, founder of Jamb

Otherwise, a safe, tamer and more affordable way of delving into the "other-world" of the mirror is simply to see what your wall mirrors are reflecting.  We can get "turned on" by how artfully the reflection is arranged.  It's a simple way for you to "make art".

Vicente Wolf

Vicente Wolf has been using large mirrors for years to tell a different story of what is typically reflected.  In this case, he calls attention to the interesting table legs and echoes the beckoning hand sculpture. The mirror is actually a three-dimensional piece of stainless steel, polished and framed with a satin finish bevel. He likes that there is a bit of distortion; that is when the fun begins!

IKEA

New mirrors are like children and teenagers. They are lucky to survive a generation, given the throw-away society that we now live in. Funny that Ikea included dinosaurs as props. These mirrors will be extinct, too, in no time flat.  But instead of being frozen, they'll be melted!

Caadre

design by Philippe Starck

Fiam Italia

Until that day of extinction comes, the more expensive and better quality new mirrors, as this one, will surely endure and be handed down by the generations, the equivalent of the computer age external hard drive, storing 21st century memories.

17th c. Italian giltwood mirror

Interior Design by Michael S. Smith

I am captivated by the souls and the history that antique mirrors contain.  What stories could they tell of the countless scenes that have unfolded in their presence?  How have they witnessed the aging of persons gazing into their never-ending depths?  I view mirrors with the greatest respect for the history that they hold within.  These old mirrors, with beautiful frames, silvered backing on thick glass, are a treasure, and perhaps someday their code of silence will be cracked and their secrets will spill forth. Perhaps someday the technology will allow them to be as a television History Channel. Just touch the mirror and be transported to another world!  

Time Out

Have you ever seen a terrible twos tantrum?  This design duplication approach may stultify and stupefy your interiors.  Classicism is all about balance, but when is two too many?  When does double dipping doom your domicile?  Sure, it seems to simplify the project in filling the space, but what would you say at the end of a long day?  Are you going to have a temper tantrum?

Classic example of the terrible twos - 

Yes, you are confused and overwhelmed about what to do with the space. But you need checks and balances.  You need to channel your energies in an orderly and civilized direction.  But disciplining the decor only by doubling the digits?  Might cause a total melt-down.  

More twosies in tandem

It is imperative to remain calm and perhaps take something away. A time out might be in order.  Restraint is a key word. Don't do two much! You don't want the Design Police on your doorstep! Perhaps better to foster the inevitable freedom and independence that your budding creation requires.

Atrium at Las Tejas, a house in Santa Barbara, California 

John Saladino

Saladino is a master of asymmetry with classical references.  Do you see here how the negative spaces are equally as important as the positive spaces? Everything is carefully considered in terms of its proportions.  There is a mathematical genius at play here and the result is beautiful.

Apartment in New York

Vicente Wolf

Wolf demonstrates an understanding of how it all adds up by multiplication of a good thing. He's got onesies, twosies, and threesies, etc. going on here. And by varying the subtleties of texture in your multiples, you can power your interior with a knock out punch!

Dining room

Clodagh

How much do you duplicate shapes?  How do you balance the quantity of color?  Is there a ratio rule?  I think that for artists, it is more intuitive than learned.  Clodagh utilizes the ancient principles of feng shui in her designs as a guide to perfect aesthetics.

Kitchen and dining area, 2005

Terry Hunziker

The beauty is in the balance. This design could likely be dissected into never-ending sections of a golden rectangle.

Golden Rectangle
The Parthenon - Temple dedicated to the goddess Athena

Guest house in Dallas, Texas

Andree Putman

This design demonstrates higher mathematics and physics. Putman carves through the space by architect Bill Booziotis fearlessly demonstrating what's what. Although devoid of architectural features of classical antiquity such as columns and capitals, the design emphasis is all about geometry. I think the Greeks and Romans would feel right at home!

Fibonacci spiral

Onesies, twosies, and threesies, etc. in perfect harmony.  No more tantrums!