Tape Floor 

Jim Lambie has ingeniously transformed a mundane staircase using colorful tape, a symbol often associated with boundaries and construction. Yet here, these rigid lines are repurposed into a vibrant, psychedelic pattern. Consider the staircase itself, an ancient motif representing ascension, transition, and the journey from the earthly to the divine. We can see stairs depicted in ancient Egyptian tombs, guiding the pharaoh’s soul to the afterlife. The rainbow hues of the tape might also evoke the rainbow bridge, Bifrost, in Norse mythology, a path connecting the human and divine realms. But here, the stairs lead nowhere significant; they become an aesthetic experience. A sense of playful disruption emerges. The vibrant colors stir our emotions, reminding us perhaps of childhood joy and the freedom of artistic expression. The tape, usually functional, here becomes art, inviting us to reconsider the symbolic weight of everyday materials. Through its repetition, it invokes the cyclical nature of symbols, their ability to resurface, evolve, and inspire new emotional connections across time.