Spied below an Obama sticker on the graffiti-strewn facade of the Jay Maisel manse on the at Spring and Bowery: more tile graffiti! (Thanks to Sara for taking the snapshot.) This one is almost cartoonlike…very different from the one I saw a few weeks ago (click here). My better half, who’s an expert on such things, thinks this is a sticker on a tile.
![[Photo by Deane Arganbright]](http://tileist.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/escher-tiles1.jpg?w=500&h=374 "escher tiles")
Big tile props to my mom, who not only introduced me to her neighbors’ cool mosaiced patio pavers, but who also just forwarded this bit of fascination: the Mathematical Association of America‘s “Found Math” gallery! It’s an online photographic showcase of “math-related images”–i.e. depictions of geometric shapes, fractals, and the like discovered on sidewalks, building facades, foodstuffs, and other “real life” locations/things. They post in image every week; three photos this year have been of tiles, including the Escher-style pavers at the Postgraduate and Research Centre of Divine Word University in Madang, Papua New Guinea, snapped by Deane Arganbright [above].
I love the nerdy premise…and the great photos! Might try to submit one of my own…hmmm.
Check out the trippy Escher-esque hexagonal tiles at the Victoria Manor in Queenstown, South Africa, shot by James Metz:
And river-rock mosaics at the Portland Classical Chinese Garden, shot by Ellen Pearson:
Thanks for the tip, momster!
Posted in Art, Cement, Exterior, Mosaic
Tagged Escher-shaped tiles, Found Math Gallery, hexagonal pavers, Mathematical Association of America, op-art tiles, Portland Classical Chinese Garden, Postgraduate and Research Centre of Divine Word University, unusually shaped tiles, Victoria Manor tiled floor
While visiting my parents at the beach last weekend, I noticed these adorable mosaiced pavers in the gravel yard (no one at the beach has grass) next door. Kitty and Steve apparently invited all the neighbors over for a make-your-own-paver party…such a neat idea for a pathway that’s one-of-a-kind–and neighborhood-centric! There must be kits for making these; will investigate further.
( * Kitty and Steve, if you heard gravel crunching under your house early last Monday AM, that was just me snapping furtive pix of your tiles!)
Find myself intrigued by Monina by Tagina‘s new Joe collection. The 12-mm-square double-fired white-body mosaics have a sort of pillowy texture and come in both concave and convex versions–both coated with a metallic glaze that has an almost diffused finish. I’m super into these new golds that are more burnished than bling–sleek but not overly showy.
Floor tiles are porcelain; wall tiles are ceramic. They come in pink and red, too!
Posted in Ceramic, Modern, Mosaic, Texture, Tiles from Italy
Tagged concave mosaics, gold tiles, Joe tile collection, Monina by Tagina
Mosaic interventions are taking over the streets of downtown NYC! Just saw this adorableness: signage in the window of Selima Optique on Broome. Is that cute or what?!
Flipping through the June Food & Wine (yes, I’m a little behind in my magazine reading…), I came across an article on L.A. design firm Commune, whose work I’ve admired (including their shop for Heath Ceramics!). Among the projects featured was this fab kitchen and adjacent courtyard patio, from a house Commune completed in Los Feliz. Per F&W, the cement floor tiles are custom from Redondo Tile, based on a 40s French design. Very inspired!
Tile is a perfect flooring choice for creating continuity between indoor/outdoor spaces, although the elements are always a concern. Cement tile is very well suited to the California climate; another great choice (my fave) is stonelike porcelain–of faux-wood porcelain planks.
(Plus, Heath L.A.!)
Forget wheatpaste, spray paint, sticker bombing, and the like…tile is apparently the trendy new medium for global graffiti artists! So countercultural! Spied on Greene Street in Soho. (Thanks to my better half for scoping it out.)
Check out more tile graffiti here.
