These oxidised geometric mirrors were without a doubt the most beautiful objects I saw at last week’s Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. The Transience mirrors, by Dutch designers David Derksen and Lex Pott, were shown as part of a larger exhibition called Objects Rescoped at Galerie van de Water.

The designers investigated how, when exposed to oxygen and water, the silver layer of mirrors slowly oxidises and black spots begin to develop on the surface. For their series of laser cut mirrors, Derksen and Pott took control of this material transition to reveal the different states of the process.

Using sulphur to create an accelerated oxidation process, Derksen and Pott found that, depending on the amount of time that the silver is left to react with sulphur, different colour tones can be achieved. Ranging from gold to brown, to purple to blue, the Transience mirrors record these different states in perfect overlapping, geometric patterns.

- A.Morris