Accurate Results

Ruairiadh O’Connell transforms DKUK into an identity parade, archiving the tread of hairdressing clients.

A shoe print is one of many signifiers the police use to build a profile of a suspect. Using an impression foam identity box, the print is recorded with a light step onto the foam and once sprayed with hairspray, it is ready to be cast. This abstract pattern, the geometry of the sole, is then broken down and analysed. Every tread is different, determined by build, height, weight and gait. We all leave our own geometric marker as distinct as our fingerprint. Tracing the footprints around a crime scene the police can determine the mood, motivation and mindset of the individual involved.

Continuing his previous investigations into the psychological functions of design, Ruairiadh will present a growing collection of footprints captured in impression foam, and the other coded information these contain – a catalogue of visitor’s geometric identity. Within the space of DKUK, the signature slatwall display system is therefore reimagined as a lineup against which each of these identities can be forensically examined.