GROUNDWORKS

There's a free 'art show' beneath your feet everywhere you go in the urban environment. Hard surfaces contain a multitude of markings controlling traffic and pedestrians or indicating services etcetera buried below the surface. Often the visual impact of these markings are partly obscured by the nature of the surrounding surfaces such as embedded gratings, covers and the like together with the texture of the paving, tarmac and other surfaces on which they have been put, further hiding their clarity. By photographing these markings and neutralising the surface area around them it is possible to bring out the clarity and texture of these man-made markings thus allowing a full appreciation of their graphic, textural and abstract qualities. As Franco Fontana, the Italian photographer, has said "The purpose of art is to make visible the invisible.” Or as Paul Klee put it slightly differently “The purpose of art is to make the invisible visible.”