Acupressure Path 足部指壓徑

Acupressure Path 足部指壓徑

Contributors

2021

“No Pressure” Acupressure Path 足部指壓徑 is a public reflexology footpath conceived by Community Pollinator Oliver Barnes and collectively designed, hand-built and installed with community members at the x̱aw̓s shew̓áy̓ New Growth 新生林 garden in Chinatown/DTES.

Introduction

Reflexology walking paths are designed spaces for wellness. Common, but not specific to countries throughout Asia, these pathways are easily identifiable with their signature bumpy surfaces, which usually consist of rounded river stones half-set into concrete in various patterns or configurations. Traditionally found in parks or neighbourhood courtyards, these pathways are public facing social spaces that promote exercise and restorative health. They are activated when walkers remove their shoes and take ambulatory circuits over the sensorially stimulating grounds. I like to think of these walking paths as a simplified and accessible extension of a larger practice of reflexology, which incorporates the application of pressure to the bases of the hands or feet as a means to promote healthy circulation throughout the body among other benefits like reducing stress.

Oli and I both share a common love of and curiosity for these walking paths and it was an honour to work with him and the 221A community to help realize this critically engaged and deeply generous project. In the wake of its recent completion, we conducted this interview to share a bit about Oli’s process, points of reference and intentions.

––Erik Benjamins

In Conversation

Erik Benjamins:

Where did the idea to create a reflexology path within the Semi-Public garden space at 221A stem from?

Oliver Barnes:
Erik:

What is your relationship to reflexology walking paths? How do they make you feel? What do they mean to you? How do they benefit public space?

Oliver:
Erik:

This project is rather unique in how it functions simultaneously as a public artwork, a space for wellness, and a meeting ground for local communities. Do you connect to any of these ideas?

Oliver:
Erik:

Share with us a bit about your process for the creation of the path. How did you decide on what stones to use? Where did they come from?

Oliver:
Erik:

I really love the inclusion of the ceramic mooncakes. They provide a playful visual contrast while directly speaking to the walking path’s location and 221A’s history. Where did this idea come from and how do you think they add to the overall design and experience of the path?

Oliver:
23-Oli_reflexology-scaled
Erik:

What was it like to create a project for a public? Did you have a specific audience in mind?

Oliver:
Erik:

Is there an ideal way for a visitor to experience the path?

Oliver:
33-Oli_reflexology-scaled-2
Erik:

What is your hope that a visitor to the path takes away from the experience?

Oliver:
Erik:

Now that you’ve spent so much time working on the path (and walking on it!), do you have any advice for curious walkers?

Oliver:

Endnote

I’ll be the first to admit that the anxieties and complexities of our current moment can have the effect of propelling us to keep to ourselves and to keep our heads down. Thankfully, we have project’s like Oli’s and spaces like 221A that remind me of the power that creative acts have to empower and to tend to community in nurturing, generous ways.

How can we best summarize this gesture that has set roots within T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss’s lively outdoor space? Is it a public artwork? Landscape design? Garden intervention? Social space? Community hub? Platform for performance? Gloriously, it’s a bit of all of these, furthering its potential to connect to all kinds of participants and visitors. Importantly, this walking path materializes as a reminder to us to tend not just to our own bodies, minds and spirits, but those of our neighbors. While I have yet to visit due to COVID travel restrictions, I patiently await my time to finally,  and joyously, remove my own shoes to take a walk and have a sit. I have no doubt it will be grounding and rejuvenating.

—Erik Benjamins