Jacksonville International Airport Permanent Art Collection

Pictograms, Gregor Turk, 2008

Gregor Turk created the artwork surrounding restrooms in Concourse C. The artwork is a result of wax-oil rubbings made of the ubiquitous pictograms found when entering restrooms. Through Turk's travels and persistent documentation of these pictograms, he has found there to be a wide range of imagery of the gendered figure. Even the most standard pictograms (originally introduced in the United States in 1974) vary in their width, cut of the arms, inseam, broadness of the shoulders, and distance or connectivity of the head to the body. At facilities that employ a greater sense of design, highly stylized pictograms reflect a much greater range in variations of body types, proportions, and activities. When the images are shown collectively, their typological differences become apparent, and even amusing.

Turk presents an engaging collection of the man pictogram for the men's restroom and the woman pictogram for the women's restroom. Over 60 unique pictograms for each gender has been glazed onto ceramic tile and arranged in a checkerboard fashion alternating blank and figured tiles.

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