055 An Ambivalent Path to Everywhere (after Grayson Cox) / 2026  

  Documentation video on Instagram  

“An Ambivalent Path to Everywhere” (after Grayson Cox)
2026
Software program, infinite loop, variable dimensions

Ambient sound design by Joshua Gosselin + Blake Marques Carrington
Additional sound fx and mixing by Blake Marques Carrington

“An Ambivalent Path to Everywhere” is a generative simulation of urban growth, inspired by the tactile paving found extensively in Tokyo known as tenji blocks. Invented in 1965 by Japanese engineer Seiichi Miyake to help his blind friend navigate the city, the blocks became a classic example of universal design — useful to everyone regardless of ability. The system utilizes two main types of blocks with raised tactile elements, able to be felt by foot or mobility cane. The first type are parallel lines which indicate it’s safe to continue in a straight direction. The second type is a grid of bumps which indicate hazard — either a turn, dead end or other cause for caution. As the word tenji (点字) means “braille” in Japanese, the blocks become a way for people to literally feel their way through the city.

The phrase “to feel one’s way” emphasizes a kind of pre-conscious intuition, echoed in the practice of the dérive popularized in the 1960’s by Guy Debord and The Situationist International. The goal of the dérive was to wander aimlessly, making decisions of going straight, left or right based solely on the minute psychogeographical perceptions of each intersection. Today, given the pressures of trillionaire capitalism that incentivize working people to get as quickly as possible to a goal-oriented destination, and the ubiquity of smart phone apps that make getting lost nearly impossible, the idea of wandering aimlessly seems archaic.

The paths generated by the software system in “An Ambivalent Path to Everywhere” have no destination in mind, but do follow rules that lead to certain emergent patterns. At each tick of the system, a weighted random decision is made about what kind of tile to place — straight, left, right, dead end, green park, or surprise. Additionally, rules about overcrowding and not laying new tiles on top of pre-existing ones are followed. These parameters are fine-tuned between three different density types, including Downtown, Neighborhood, and Highway. While in Downtown mode, the system allows higher density before jumping to a new location, favors fewer but bigger parks, and jumps back toward the center of mass of the city when possible. While in Neighborhood mode, the system keeps more breathing room between tiles, has more but smaller parks, and tends to jump to areas that grow itself in a cohesive manner. While in Highway mode, the system highly favors straight paths that lead to the outskirts, and neither parks nor surprises are allowed. Here, the weighted random decision process is admittedly a poor substitute for the psychogeographical nuances of human experience, but nevertheless is meant as a simulated stand-in.

“An Ambivalent Path to Everywhere” was created as a remix of a previous work by artist Grayson Cox, on the occasion of his 2026 mid-career survey exhibition in Berlin. Flipping the normal logic of a survey on its head, Cox requested fellow artist friends to choose and reinterpret one of his previous works instead of showing his historical works themselves. Thus, the exhibition functions like a music album of remixes made by various artists, with ambiguity in regards to authorship.

The inspiration for the present work by Marques Carrington was a performative object made by Cox while the two artists lived in Japan, circa 2003-2005. Inspired by the yellow tenji blocks found all over Tokyo, Cox developed a practice of wearing a yellow t-shirt and inviting people to draw on it with a black marker — one block at a time. As the interactions with people accumulated, so too did the pathways on and around the shirt. Serendipitous forms emerged, not planned by any single person, but keeping social connectivity as its central guiding principle.

Grayson Cox “Survey 2004-2026” is currently on view at mõist ~ room to swing a cat in Berlin.