Lauren Kirkman: History of a Floor, Carpet Version

History of a Floor, Carpet Version, latex and grey emulsion, 2005.

© Lauren Kirkman

Lauren Kirkman's site-specific piece consists of several layers of latex applied to an entire floor. The latex is the same color as the floor's original gray, and, after it dried, Kirkman peeled it up and rolled it back to reveal the layers of the floor beneath, impressed in the latex. The result of this meticulous and persistent process reveals the layers of previous uses: different paint coats, bits of the floor and accumulated dirt become the visible traces of the history of the space.

This subtle piece is the result of the artist's systematic action on the space. In the surface of her latex carpet, the traces of the space's history are (re)presented as if they were petrified over time. Ultimately, her work questions the possibility of tracing, capturing and making visible with exact and precise detail the pan-dimension of past moments.