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Sugar Dance

Florence is a textile practitioner (surface pattern) who produces interactive site-specific installations. Included in the V&A ‘Out of the Ordinary: Spectacular Craft’ exhibition alongside other international artists and makers, the Sugar Dance installation represented the culmination of a series of experiments in pattern-making with dance.

The original inspiration for the work on ‘sugar floors’ came from traditional tea dances; the use of icing sugar is intended to recall these dances as the scent of the sugar permeates the air when disturbed. In creating the elaborate patterns Florence draws upon the study of ‘tracking’ used in the commercial and industrial flooring sectors where patterns are designed in order to mask everyday wear and tear. Florence challenges this by emphasising the marks made by feet as they move over the floors, focusing attention on a surface that is often ignored. The pattern evolves as the participants engage with the installation. In ‘Sugar Dance’, the steps of a traditional Viennese waltz are traced by professional dancers on to the floor. The repetitive nature of the dance reveals the physical footprint of the waltz.

To create the installation in the Raphael Gallery at the V&A, Florence studied its stonework and drew on her research in the museum’s textile archive. The venue provided the opportunity for the general public and design professionals to watch the performance. Here for the first time, the floor was realized on a large scale with interaction through dance. In this work Florence presents a new context for textiles design through the exploration of a non-traditional participatory and transient surface pattern intervention.

For a subsequent installation at the Museum of Art and Design, New York, Florence studied the architecture and glasswork of the museum, also drawing upon natural themes from neighbouring Central Park.