The scripts of law are drafted into our public bodies. They imprint upon flesh movements and gestures, unconscious reactions, behaviours and anticipations. In any public space, local and national regulations discretise movement in quantitative, algorithmic ways.
Friction Atlas is a critical archive, addressing the issue of legibility of public space. The work aims to make regulations explicit, through graphical devices and the enactment of laws on public surfaces. Through the engagement of the public, the dynamics of authority become not only visually, but also physically discernible, immediately presented for debate. The diagrams represent cases from different cities, including Ljubljana, Athens, Melbourne, Cairo, Washington, Rome, Kiev.
What happens when the laws become a game? What happens when we redefine the rules as the visible surface of a playing field, blurring the distinction between unthinking movement and a conscious submission as participants?