Precaution | Florence Debeugny

CAUTION tape is a powerful symbol, causing us to detour around a site, despite the absence of human authority. This CAUTION has entered our subconscious, with its connotation of warning and danger, but do we even bother reading the words? The linear and stretched shape, bright colour, dark letters, and location are enough to stop us from entering the areas it guards. Because we know its role and take its CAUTION for granted, we seldom take the time to approach, to get close enough to read the words, to isolate which danger we are CAUTIONed against, to question the essential characteristics of this inanimate perimeter guard.

The Precaution series, 15 large photographs of CAUTION tapes found in urban environments has been exhibited in:

– Gallery 2, Grand Forks, BC, curator Ted Fogg, in 2012

– Le Centre d’artistes Voix Visuelle, Ottawa, ON, in 2010

– Touchstones Nelson, Nelson, BC, curator Deborah Loxam-Kohl, in 2007

Stepped on