The Spartan Reader #4

Sarah Illenberger: Architectural Digest

The radical range of color schemes, discombobulating object scale, unusual item combination, and drastic angling of geometric shapes combine to form a divine harmony in the middle of a flustering discord.  From drastic reds and harsh blacks to soft pinks and peaceful blues, the colors of the rooms create a dramatic range of mood from breathtaking to calming.  The objects are surprising and typically out of place, from an authoritative moon to a tediously arranged triangle of ripe, green apples.

 In Picture 1, the cold, rusty, silver, steel bed frame contrasts the blinding white and cooling blue soft, woolen blankets, but they are wistfully knit into unity with the bliss of the hopeful painted sky strewn across the walls.  The artful blending of the peaceful colors emphasizes the quiet, serene mood.  It is almost as if one can feel the soft, blowing breeze.  The size of the objects produces a vague, disconnecting illusion that throws away worldly perceptions and hurls one like Alice into a disproportionate Wonderland.

 Picture 5 contains eye-blazing contrast with a dramatic checkerboard of the white and black walls, tile, and bed comforter.  The angle of the bed and decreasing size of the contrasted diamonds creates a distinct depth that seems to elongate the room.  Splashes of color are provided from the vibrant lobster clawing its way across the bed;  the rustic, golden key with the matching authoritative door; and pink floral throw pillow lounging across the bed-spread.  The screaming contrast and overwhelming collection of colors and shapes arouses a mood of radical excitement and fascination. 

 Each picture, excluding the last, contains a bed. It generates a familiarity and parallelism with each of the photos and somehow subtly interconnects the gallery.  The bedroom is commonly the most personal, well known space in a house.  It is the one portion of the house dedicated typically to solely one individual.  Creating such wild combinations by bringing together such random objects and putting them in a bedroom begs the question: who would stay in this kind of room?  The neat, organized and yet mind-boggling arrangements mold an order out of chaos that catches the eye and intrigues the mind.  It is almost as if the pictures are teetering on the edge between sporadic decoration and perfectly designed order, and an object added or subtracted would completely tip the scale.