FLOORS, Javier de Riba
At the end of the 19th century, hydraulic mosaic factories began to appear in the Catalan countries. Many homes in this area feature this type of tile, and I have lived with them all my life. They add personality and fill the space with a unique rhythm. Each tile is identical, but the repetition generates new forms, born out of how each of the tiles join and intersect.
The name of this project, FLOORS, comes not only from the use of flooring as a canvas, but also from “flors,” the Catalan word for flower. In abandoned tiled floors, flowers usually appear between the tiles. In this project, I locate abandoned and grey floors and apply a pattern to them. It moves me to think that one day these floors harboured experiences, and helped form a part of someone’s daily life, and now finally rest forgotten. Through my intervention, I allow this sensation to flourish— and offer a testimony to these past lives.