An experiential installation in response to Sir John Soane's housemaids' timeline. Following a visit to the neo-classical architects formerly home, now recognised as The Soane Museum, we analysed the space through an 18th Century housemaids eyes and carried out a thorough investigation of their routine in his home. This allowed us to create an experiential narrative of their daily tasks. Each frame resembles a chore and the design and construction of them collectively enables the user to carry out their choreography.
A technical drawing I drafted bringing together the plan and elevations of the installation. A choreographic code I created sits below it.
Each frame’s muslin fabric is treated differently according to the chore the frame resembles. For example, the ‘Lighting The Fire’ frame is treated with black grate polish. The hand grips on each frame indicate where an individual should hold onto while opening each frame. The viewing slots are designed to be looked through while simultaneously holding the hand grips. They collectively allow the housemaids’ choreography to be channelled into the individual experiencing the installation. For example, the ‘Lighting The Fire’ hand grips and viewing slot sit close to the ground.
A 1:10 scale model of the installation and test mapping to gain spatial and dimensional clarity.
PROCESS
Selected pages of my sketchbook. Click the images to enlarge them.
In collaboration with Heidi AY, Funto Thompson, Victoria Osh, Nerissa Yeung, Jooyoung Cho, Achilleas Papakyriacou, Joseph Philo Powell, Danny Dimbleby, Matt Taylor, Lester Cheung, Una Haran, Kerry Ngan, Karolina Kielb and Jun Heem Mo.