Flynn Talbot Morphs a V&A Gallery into a Vibrant Hall of Light

“Light is invisible, yet very powerful,” muses Australian designer Flynn Talbot. “It has the ability to reach inside you, tug at your heartstrings, and offer a deep emotional connection to your environment.” His latest installation, “Reflection Room,” is perhaps the most alluring of a handful of installations hosted by the Victoria & Albert Museum (including projects by Ross Lovegrove and glassmaker Peter Stanicky) as part of the London Design Festival, which opened over the weekend. Situated in the Prince Consort Gallery, the former home of the institution’s 3,000-piece textile collection, Talbot’s work employs Barrisol—a non-flammable PVC sheet material—to create 56 reflective black panels along the room’s longer walls, adding a new dimension to the space. Orange lighting tubes stand vertically at one end of the gallery, while blue lights mimic their position at the other, connecting audience and architecture in a single wash of saturated hues. “It’s physically reflective, of course, but I hope people find it a space for inner reflection too,” Talbot says of the psychedelic space. “Everyone has their own story and memories connected to these colors.”