New, Temporary Floor Installations Added to ‘Swept Away’ Exhibit at MAD Museum

NEW YORK—Any mother who appreciates innovative design and temporary beauty would love to get roses like this for Mother’s Day. Installed on the second floor of the Museum of Arts and Design on April 10, the carpet-style pattern was created by London artist Linda Florence using powdered chalk and stencils and has already lasted much longer than a bouquet of real flowers. “Chalk Floor NY” is a part of the museum’s popular “Swept Away: Dust, Ashes and Dirt in Contemporary Art and Design” exhibit which has been on view since February.

Several works installed live during museum hours and on display for a limited period of time are planned over the course of the show.

In addition to Florence’s unique chalk design, Joe Mangrum installed a colorful sand painting in an adjacent gallery space on May 9 and May 10. The designs of his paintings are improvised, figured out in the course of execution. New York-based Mangrum applies the sand directly from his hand, creating images and symbols that resemble ancient patterns. His temporary floor installation, “Asynchronous Syntropy,” is expected to be on view until Tuesday, May 15, 2012.

The “Swept Away” exhibit runs from February 7 to August 12, 2012.

All photos by Arts Observer


Above, “Asynchronous Syntropy,” 2012 (colored sand) by Joe Mangrum, with “Chalk Floor NY” show in background. Top of page, Detail of “Chalk Floor NY,” 2012 (chalk) by Linda Florence.


Mangrum hand-poured sand over two days to create the floor installation.


He used a series of colored sands to create the intricate patterns of the design.


Mangrum’s colorful sand paintings resemble ancient-style patterns.


Linda Florence created her chalk installation using a template. Watch a video of the artist and two assistants installing the carpet-style pattern.

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