Signage Series

‘Tramline’, ‘Coca Exit’ and ‘Lumiere Exit’ make up Signage Series, a new collection of rugs at Dilana. Dilana has had the pleasure of working with Trusttum in the past on rugs such as ‘Red Monster Face’, ‘Williams Roller’ and ‘Fold Up Doll’. Signage Series continues this relationship, presenting three new Trusttum rugs made in collaboration between Sudi Dargipour and the artist himself.

As suggested by its title, the works within Signage Series emerged from Trusttum’s intrigued observation of signs in the public environment, an investigation that originated post-quake and continued all the way into lockdown in 2020. Trusttum collected over 1500 images of signs during this time.

There’s an intrigue around the simplified motifs within signage; as Trusttum notes “They’ve already been abstracted”. The principle of sign design requires imagery to transcend language barriers. Imagery on public signage speaks to a universal language of visual understanding; genericized figures ride bicycles, exit through doorways, walk dogs and place rubbish into bins. As writer Warren Feeney notes “Trusttum’s silhouetted figures became essential abstracted forms [...] no less animated or distinct as the individuals that he had observed and drawn them from.” Trusttum’s use of universal imagery results in works that speak to universal experiences, referencing urban environments and social order; the figures become a stand-in for us, and for a wider (and collective) human experience.