Artist
Artist
David & Karen Lane
Click above map to view a video, manhole cover, and the spot where it was printed in Ohio
“Well Worn” is a meditation on design as both functional imprint and cultural artifact. Comprising 88 recycled work shirts, each printed with a manhole cover from one of Ohio’s counties, the piece highlights the often-unnoticed artistry embedded in everyday infrastructure. Manhole covers—typically seen only in passing—are revealed here as objects of intricate, intentional design: concentric rings, gridded patterns, municipal insignias, and embossed typography that vary subtly from one region to another. When pressed onto fabric, these details emerge like urban fossils, each one a unique visual signature of place.
The use of work shirts as canvas is equally deliberate. Their utilitarian cut, faded color, and worn fabric echo the industrial language of the prints themselves, reinforcing themes of labor, repetition, and endurance. By layering these two forms of design—the engineered surface of the manhole cover and the tailored durability of workwear—Well Worn blurs the line between art and utility, object and garment. The result is a tactile archive of Ohio’s invisible systems, reimagined through the lens of texture, typography, and the quiet persistence of use.