Lizzie Ridout

A few short thoughts about welcome mats: Doors are protection. They are bolted to some and open to others, to pass freely back and forth. Often welcome mats lie on the threshold of a home, in front of those bolted doors, teasing you of the possibilities offered by a space that you might never be permitted to enter.

Occasionally, you are given consent to pass through. Then those welcome mats require a new function: to rid your shoes of the dirt picked up through the course of your journey, so you don’t deposit it elsewhere, leaving trails on shining linoleum or pristine carpet. *

But whether these footsteps leave marks or not, they warrant attention. As someone moves around a space, they create an invisible drawing under their soles. The modest and hardwearing carpet becomes a sturdy canvas over which our everyday routines pass, and a template upon which a succession of repetitive acts leave both visible and invisible traces. Welcome explores these movements and the vestiges they create.

*Periodically, people abuse the trust that allowed them into a space in the first place. This is known as a worn-out welcome.

nstructions for use:
1. Choose an appropriate doorway or step for your Welcome stencil.
2. Sprinkle chalk dust/cocoa/dust removed from your vacuum cleaner liberally over the surface.
3. Remove stencil carefully to avoid disturbing dust.
4. Observe as people pass over your Welcome, inadvertently destroying one artwork and creating another.

IExhibited at: ExtraOrdinary, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden; IdeaLondon, ICA, London, UK; Domestic Sphere, Arthouse, London, UK.