As I am sure you know, I am a tanuki of refinement and culture, one to whom the better things in life are instantly apparent. Since I have been here I have been picking out the finer aspects of British culture and most recently I have managed an interior design top four. Enjoy!
Number 4 - Something old, something new
The first piece reportedly cost thousands in design fees from an avant-gard architect of some renown. As you can see, he really earnt his thousands here. Thank god someone had the balls to do this.
Number 3 - decorative tiling
Now, I know that you are going to tell me that all tiling is decorative, but what the artist has done here is to completely separate form from function. It took me a long while to get my head around the concept but it is a masterpiece. The lack of grouting round the tiles and sealant round the bath have nullified the function while the obvious nastiness of the tiles themselves have sneered at the bathroom beauty myth. It has to be art of th highest order. It couldn't be anything else.
Number 2 - the window ensemble
The first and second spots this time were hotly-contested indeed! There was literally nothing between these last two objects. The window ensemble carries on in the vein seen above: It growls at both functionality and presentability. It makes a bold statement about purpose and existence. The fully-blocked window, the curtain rail which extends over only half of the window, the curtain shading the bare wall. There is no why, this work just is.
Number 1 - the dark lamp
When I saw this, the first thing I thought, after my initial daze, was, "my god, it's beautiful!" If da Vinci had had electricity and energy-saving light bulbs to hand he probably would have made this. Hundreds of years after he was taken from us, someone had the nous to carry on the fight. Bravo!
I hope you enjoyed my top four!
Yours sincerely,
Tanuki Dave
