Designer Mathieu Lehanneur’s famous marble sculpture, which mimics the look and feel of rippling water, has gone on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London as part of the city’s ongoing design festival.

The piece, called Liquid Marble, evokes a surreal vision of the sea by using 3D movie-making software to reproduce the visual effect of the water’s surface on a piece of hand-polished black marble.

Liquid Marble is presented on a 30cm high pedestal, offering viewers a close-up experience of the enigmatic effect of contrasting materials, which appear to be both liquid and solid at the same time.

“I was inspired by the contrast between the deep silence of Liquid Marble and the luxurious decor of the museum’s Norfolk House Music Room, where the most beautiful symphonies were hosted" said Lehanneur.

The London Design Festival will run until 25 September 2016. Other installations commissioned to mark the event include Asif Khan’s temporary forests around London.

Asif Khan designs tiny forests for London to bring calm to city's streets

First ever London Design Biennale opens this week with mission to define utopia