COCOA CINNAMON FLOOR

floor project at cocoa cinnamon in durham, nc
My journey in this collaborative project started when I met Areli & Leon “on the bike”. BikeCoffee, that is, in downtown Durham. We were sympatico. When they started work on their cafe, Cocoa Cinnamon, they contacted me early on inviting me to join them and other artists to create an environment where the art is embedded into the structure of the business. Working closely with David Solow and Areli Barrera de Grodski, we developed a design for their front entry floor that combined a variety of elements both visual and textual. This source material reflecting the overall project ideas of travel, cultural difference, love, explosion, and dialogue (among others) were converted to binary strings of 1’s and 0’s and painted in a tile-inspired design on the concrete floor.My thanks to Areli & Leon for inviting me into the creation of their business space, to David Solow (the designer behind the interior), and the volunteers that helped complete the painted design including Warren Hicks, Stacey Kirby, Sara McCreary, and Natalie Santana.
the original condition drawing the design getting started on painting first day of painting the first of three coats getting some help
progress: slow but sure nearing the finish line the final day through the window, waiting to open finished project
Sources include:

  • a selection from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass
I celebrate myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me, You shall listen to all sides and filter them from yourself.
  • a bit of Rumi
Oh you who’ve gone on pilgrimage—
where are you, where, oh where?
Here, here is the Beloved!
Oh come now, come, oh come!
Your friend, he is your neighbor,
he is next to your wall—
You erring in the desert—
what air of love is this?
If you’d see the Beloved’s
form without any form—
You are the house, the master,
You are the Kaaba, you!
Where is a bunch of roses,
if you would be this garden?
Where, one soul’s pearly essence
when you’re the Sea of God?
That’s true—and yet your troubles
may turn to treasures rich—
How sad that you yourself veil
the treasure that is yours!
  • Ann Duryan’s brainwaves while thinking about being in love with Carl Sagan, recorded for Voyager’s golden record on June 3, 1977
A sampling of Ann Druyan's brain waves, recorded on June 3, 1977.
higgs boson
Further Reading: The Art and Joy of Cocoa Cinnamon, Cady Childs, The Clarion Content, Feb 22, 2013