It was more than time that I re-grouted some of the bathroom tiles. And then I realized that I didn't have - or couldn't find - any painter's masking tape (note: check all supplied before starting. I know that. But). So I had recourse to some William Morris, super-wide masking tape that I bought last year at the V&A: a better class of tile protection than the standard blue stuff, but probably intended for some completely different decorative use. By complete coincidence, we'll be discussing Ornament and Decoration (and reading a lot of Morris) for class on Tuesday. I'll quote the opening page of James Trilling's Ornament: A Modern Perspective (not a text for class, but on my bookcase): "Ornament has always been a powerful tool of ethnic and cultural self-definition. Modernism, in contrast, is cosmopolitan." So what could be more ethnically and culturally self-defining, for this Victorianist, than William Morris masking tape?
Trilling's argument, of course, is completely undercut by the fact that the tiled wall that I'm repairing still carries the original 1929 Art Deco design - which is thoroughly international, and really, harking back as it does in its semi-acanthus motif, to the turn of the century, not at all modernist.
PSA: For those of you who enjoy re-grouting as much as I do [that is not a joke], may I recommend Flex Shot adhesive sealant caulk? It's much easier to use than the stuff that needs a caulking gun, though it takes a long while to dry and seal ...
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