The artist Dr. Thiru has developed a collection of photos of what he calls “Art That People Step On.” Like most people, the artist has walked at least a few thousand miles until this point in time in his life. Also like most people, he did not pay much attention to patterns of art that he used to step on or walk over.

Dr. Thiru initially started looking for patterns in nature and on paved surfaces, walls, and in other manmade objects that looked like the symbol shown below, which is the symbol for the sound “Om”.

The “Om” sound has religious and spiritual meaning for Hindus. Dr. Thiru initially only found two patterns that looked somewhat like the symbol for Om.

The quest for the Hindu symbol for Om eventually resulted in the development of “Art That People Step On.”

At the end of the year 2016, Dr. Thiru started noticing other patterns in spills, leaks, stains, smudges, splatter, spit and weathered, eroded and repaired portions of sidewalks and other paved, semi-paved and unpaved areas that people generally step on without paying much attention. To his curious mind and eyes, some of the patterns looked like works of art. Soon he started noticing more and more ‘works of art’ as he walked on paved, semi-paved and unpaved surfaces. Using the camera in his smart phone, he started taking pictures of the artistic patterns that he observed in such areas. He calls his growing collection of photos “Art That People Step On.”

He calls the art-like patterns that he photographs, works of “Unintelligiblistic Art”.

Some of the skills that Dr. Thiru has used include focused observation, identifying patterns, making comparisons and connections, rotational visualization, asking questions, curiosity, creativity, and imagination.