University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 1976

Rules and habits

Where I grew up, everyone walked, in the country, in the towns, and in the cities. When I moved back to the United States to go to the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, I was surprised no one used the sidewalks. I saw so many signs saying, “Keep off the Grass,” and these were a surprise to me as well. It was logical then for me to put a sidewalk—looking old, cracked, and uneven, as they were in Providence—in the middle of grass and ask people to keep off it.