Further images / Return to 2015
Description: The pavement tiles on footpaths of Xiamen are coloured red, green and yellow. They are variously placed using many different patterns in alternate locations of the city. When old or broken tiles need to be replaced, new ones are inserted that (due to their brightness) stand out in stark contrast. The colour of these tiles often do not match the originals, or are added 'incorrectly' to the overall design, drawing attention to these amendments. Such 'disruptive tiles' create unintentional asymmetrical patterning systems across the footpath landscape. The Action Researcher/Performer decided to create her own pavement tiles from felt material in order to experiment at 'playing with the patterns'. Brightly coloured red, green and yellow felt squares were variously dyed in ink washes to give them a worn appearance similar to the pavements of the city. A pencil grid line was also drawn onto each felt square to replicate the surface texture of the cement tiles. These new versions were then arranged in four by four grids in various pattern combinations. The sixteen larger grid tiles were taken to Bailuzhou Park in Xiamen, where a series of patterning combinations were explored albeit ‘on the grass’.