Milliken’s new floor covering collection, Art Media, is a library of patterns that reinterpret iconoclastic modern art techniques and media that include charcoal, chalk, graphite, action painting, drip painting, and the optical illusions of Op Art. A Best of NeoCon Gold award winner for modular carpet, it explores the boundaries of media art. In this new collection, the floor plane becomes a canvas for larger-than-life installation art or fine detail that feels like an intimate secret, through the use of advanced digital technology.
Designed by Cresta Bledsoe, Art Media consists of six patterns that offer a variety of quintessential modern art aesthetics in a range of scales that are completely versatile – from large focal point installation art to neutral and planar textural ground. An optional Canvas edge details can act as a border or transition.
The Art Media collection is comprised of three groupings of media:
• Charcoal/Chalk/Graphite – Reflect iconic techniques made famous by a small group of artists who rose to fame in the mid-20th century.
o Charcoal – Soft, but boldly gritty, Charcoal is a non-directional line work on a static ground that features a subtle striate in the background. Charcoal is the largest scale pattern and the only precision set ‘medallion’ pattern repeat in the collection.
o Chalk – Chalk is a medium-scale, rhythmic, continuous-flowing line made up of three linear layers of varying thickness, line weight and smudges. Chalk is a random multi-tile repeat.
o Graphite – A small scale pseudo-linear rhythmic pattern made up of three layers of varying thickness, line weight and smudges. Graphite is a random multi-tile repeat.
• Action Painting and Drip Painting – An iconic technique so unique it immortalized Jackson Pollack, a mid-century abstract expressionist.
o Action Painting – A large-scale dramatic gestural pattern, Action Painting refers to the use of the whole body to paint – not just a hand and brush. These paintings are created by moving around a large canvas on the ground and spattering paint from all sides to create a non-directional – but animated – paint texture. Action Painting is a multi-tile repeat.
o Drip Painting – The smaller scale of the two, Drip Painting is an abstract art in which the paint is dripped onto the canvas using unconventional tools, such as sticks or hardened brushes. This technique creates a unified overall pattern that allows the eye to travel across the whole canvas – or floor plane in this instance. Drip Painting is a random pattern with no pattern repeat – every tile is unique.
• Op Art – Op Art was a modern art movement influencing major trends, such as Bauhaus and the De Stijl movement, but hit iconoclastic status in the mid-century. It focuses on illusion or optical tricks. When viewed, the impression is given of movement, hidden images, flashing, vibrating, swelling or warping. Op Art is a random multi-tile repeat. Each grouping explores variety and qualities of graphic lines, while capturing the essence of its related media through minuscule and rich detail. Patterns are large repeats in varying scales with optional accessory patterns that showcase the canvas edge of the art. All are intended as monolithic installations.
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Milliken is an innovation company that has been exploring, discovering, and creating ways to enhance people’s lives since 1865. Our community of innovators has developed one of the larger collections of United States patents held by a private U.S. company. With expertise across a breadth of disciplines including specialty chemical, floor covering, and performance materials, we work around the world every day to add true value to people’s lives, improve health and safety, and make this world more sustainable. In 2013 Milliken was named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute for a seventh consecutive year. The award-winning company is carbon negative, thanks to the sustainable management of more than 130,000 acres of trees in Milliken forests, the use of renewable resources and its energy management system. Additionally, all Milliken products are certified carbon neutral, from textiles to chemical products. For more information, visit milliken.com.