Realer than real

The transmutation of characters and properties of one material to another is one of the most fertile aspects of contemporaneity. The latest edition of Cersaie confirmed the trend of many manufacturers to develop ceramics that present properties that in nature belong to raw materials with diverse physical characteristics and appearances. At the fair this year we found tiles and elements in porcelain stoneware that emulate other materials – from wood, in all its variations, to natural stone as well as concrete, resins and interesting incursions into the world of textiles.

Inkjet printing has revolutionised the decorative ceramic industry in a relatively short time. In the last ten years the quality of the product has changed considerably. Thanks to technological advances in digital printing, the imitations have become more faithful and the surfaces reproduce in fine detail the tones, grain, transparencies, brightness and colours of the original material. So while the world of natural stone continues its long struggle against imperfection, that of ceramic reproduces irregularity to conjure up the authenticity of handcrafted finishes.

The concept of imitation has taken over. In his Logic, Aristotle would have called artefacts of this type ‘fakes’, defining such things as false because they induce a falsity in the judgement of the person who is deceived. But it is also true that the beauty of woods and natural minerals coexist in these proposals with the practicality and resistance of ceramic.

Although the level of demand for surfaces that reproduce natural materials like wood, marble and stone is likely to remain high, new aesthetic directions are also emerging. On the one hand, we are looking decisively at reproductions from the world of textiles, from embroideries to classic patterns, while there is evidence on the other of an increase in the range of formats and a parallel extension of the spectrum of colours and finishes that combined together, become a decorative system.

Putting together different formats, colours and finishes – taken from existing ranges and collections – new textures for floors and walls can be created. Special sizes complete the collections to create a variety of decorative effects, enabling the creation of potentially infinite graphic contrasts and combinations. Alternating material surfaces creates a dialogue graduated colour combinations, in a dynamic game of form and geometry.