When Portland International Airport ripped out its iconic green carpet during its 2006 renovation, Portlanders were simultaneously outraged, devastated and nostalgic, taking to social media to pay tribute to the admittedly tacky carpet pattern (an online PDX Carpet shop soon followed). And while “Well, they’re from Portland” is a good enough explanation for the vast overreaction, it’s also an example of how fabrics and patterns, especially those used in public places or transportation, seep unconsciously into our brains and stay recognizable in the most discreet way.
Bustour, the 2008 project of the German artist Menja Stevenson, is another example of how fabric weaves its way into our daily lives. Stevenson created dresses out of the very same cloth used to upholster German buses. She had to convince transportation companies to send her the commercially-unavailable fabric, and ended up documenting the reaction of her fellow commuters (double takes, smiling and looking away were common).
In a BBC article on the ugliness of train seat fabric, Stevenson says, “Such a pattern, like a lot of everyday things, imprints itself into our memory unconsciously without being actually perceived. Through my intervention the beholder becomes aware of the invisible fabric… I wanted to get the unseen seen.” Watch videos of commuter reactions here.
