Rain is trendy. Not because it's chucked it down all year or because October means rainwear season, or even because it's very British (we have been particularly popular this year). But have a look in the design department – it's pouring.

This week the Barbican has opened its Rain Room, an installation where thousands of water drops fall from the ceiling of a 100 square meter passage. And if you're like me and you wished you were Storm (coolest X-man by far), then this is the hook. Using cameras that detect movement, the water will halt at the very point you stand so it's like casting your umbrella to the side and dancing in the rain without your hair getting wet. (I believe you might get a spray from the surrounding raindrops if you're looking to head elsewhere after). Now watch this:

It's beautiful. The sound of water gently crashing down, the humidity of nature indoors, the thousands of specs running to the ground. Back track to Burberry's Autumn/Winter 2012 show in February (start at 15 minutes into the video). This was the first time I was blown away by rain. I wasn't cursing it or wishing it away. I loved it!

It has continued into their store openings in Taipei and on Regent's Street.

It's stunning how digital technology is being used to recreate nature or perhaps even perfecting it. In celebration of this, I picked out the best captures of rain in art and film.

Top still and moving rain images

1. Singin' in the Rain
The classic, glorious and brightening tap number in "California Dew".

2. The Drop, by Inges Idee
This giant and elegant sculpture sits on the edge of Vancouver's  Convention Centre overlooking Burrard Inlet.

3. Seascape Study with Rain Cloud, 1824, Constable
One of the landscape master's most expressive studies.

4. Shawshank Redemption 
The cleansing shower – possibly the most inspirational rain scene in film.

5. Cliffs at Pourville, Rain, 1886, Claude Monet 
The genius of water covering sheets of rain at sea.

Extra: Here are two more special moments of rain in film: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Road to Perdition (listen to the sound of rain gradually rising behind the musical score).

It's forecasted before the weekend, so next time the clouds open look up and smile.

Rain Room is open daily, 11am-8pm (Thurs until 10pm) until 3 March 2013, at The Curve, Barbican, London. 
Note: My illustration was inspired by http://brade-s.deviantart.com/art/Rain-94187735. Thank you. 

A word on the effect of Looper

Back in July I went to a very early screening of Looper through Stylist magazine. Normally this is okay. I watched Take This Waltz a month and a half in advance; I was moved and I kept it fairly quiet like when you discover the last Lindor and you eat it.

Ah but Looper. You were a tricky one. You see it’s a high thrill, crazy hot kind of film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt kicked ass, Chloe Moretz-style by shooting a finger gun. So naturally I went around screeching “It’s so cool!” urging everyone to watch it when it's out. Then I get asked, “What is it about?” Followed by that prerequisite prejudice of time travel movies.

I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to finally see 100% on Rotten Tomato’s critic Tomatometer. I told you. I knew it. Now time it’s time to feel it once more. 

Defacing of a Rothko: 5 things to know

Did you wake up this Monday morning wondering what went wrong with a painting at the Tate on a Sunday afternoon? Here are five things you need to know.

It's a big deal
The name Mark Ruthko is so distinguished in modern art, he did what McDonald's did to french fries. He owned abstraction. A room named after him on Level 3 of the Tate Modern hangs some of his Seagram murals – a total of 600 square feet murals painted from 1958 for an exclusive room in the new Four Seasons restaurant at the Seagram building in New York. You might recognise his work as two (or a few more) panels of colour with super soft uneven edges. 'Black on Maroon' was the target. A visitor calmly stepped over the wire barrier, pulled out a paintbrush loaded with blank paint (we are unable to distinguish an acrylic or oil property) and wrote the following: "Vladimir Umanets, A potential Piece of Yellowism"

Self-titled 'Yellowists' are potential nobodies
It appears there's only two of them. This one, Vladimir Umanets, is a Russian born artist who is not trying to strike vandalism, but draw attention to his 'movement'. Their website states it is not art and the rest is mystifying. Something about reducing interpretations of art to one: equalised and flattened. Yellowism pieces are not yellow.

Tate Modern closed for a period
While police investigated the scene.

Reactions: shock, outrage, upset, bemusement 
It's silly and stupid so you can laugh because it can be restored. But people are angry at Vladimir's apparent satisfaction, believing he's added value to the piece.

But, it's not a rare thing
People attempt to deface artwork all the time. From Picasso's 'Woman in a Red Armchair' at Houston's Menil Collection earlier this year, to 'Mona Lisa' (well the box) continuously and Rembrandt's 'Night Watch'. See the BBC's list here.

Update point 6: He's been arrested.

It's here! The output end of a redesign and it's looking pretty sharp. I had to HTML-code my way through to getting black post headings. Yes black. So consider this black extra special.

Those are my hand drawn clogs and I'm going to try illustrate a lot more pieces to break the blogging mould. I also like maths, which is a very unusual combination, so in that spirit you might even see words, images and equations amalgamate. Data journalism has never been as cool as it is now (See: guardian.co.uk/news/datablog). Until the next post ... stay with me.