NEW MEANINGS
Ironically, this article was completed during the peak of the Covid crisis. As a social distancing measure, floor art had become a civic norm, in support of law enforcement measures that were dictated by deeply tragic contexts. The world reeled while the coronavirus spread across its length and breadth.
Floor patterns began to emerge all over the world, exhorting people to maintain a safe distance from one another. In the process, the range of materials and contexts for floor art exploded – but with new meaning. And with new possibilities.
The first image above is a prototype being tested for paper separators for a birthday party, for children to sit on the floor within designated spaces. Perhaps the footsteps of the goddess Lakshmi, associated with wealth and prosperity, will make their way onto these mats. And maybe the feet of Apollo, protector of the young and the Greek god who delivered people from epidemics, will follow – along with symbols of medicinal plants promising inhibitory effects against viral diseases.