O_ bathroom residencyIN A HOUSE IN S.W LONDON The Bathroom Residency takes place in the uppermost bathroom of a terraced house in South West London. It is organised by the daughter of the family resident there, although she no longer lives there herself. The bathroom has been selected as one of the only rooms offering complete privacy and hopes to further moments of solace and thought in the comfort found there. The residency has two conditions. The first that the artist cannot leave the bathroom unless they wish to terminate the residency. The second that on crossing the threshold to the bathroom the artist becomes placed under the care of the family in the house, with all food and amenities provided for as best as possible within that space. The residency takes place in a family bathroom given a lack of artist spaces in London but also hopes to use the family unit and interdependencies present there as a framework for exploration. Bathroom Resident Nr #4 James Tabbush scheduled for June 7th Nr #5 / Nr #6 Gregory Hari and Holly White watch this (tiled) white space
Bathroom Resident Nr #3 Amy Ash // 17.11.17 Amy Ash’s residency and private view for selected friends explored the bathroom as a space of privacy and self-consideration through her theme objectify. Her practice encompassing drawing, memories held through lost and found items, and her work as an arts educator culminated in her curation of a selection of objects which had mini sound recorders in them. Visitors to the bathroom were invited to record their own thoughts given a series of prompts via cards relating to objects, which often related to change in common opinions or hinged on misunderstood value: AZs, ladybird books on coal mining, measuring cups in sizes which are no longer used. The artist was present in the bathroom and on hand for guidance but unable to hear recordings when happening given large earphones. In this way the exhibition changed over it’s duration with a sequence of stories or thoughts triggered by both the objects and the previous visitors. Everybodys experience of the bathroom was unique and the night unfurled chatting to each other downstairs and on the stairs waiting to enter the exhibition, whilst listening to each other in unfurling private snippets upstairs. Here is her press release; the first side explaining her concept and curation of objects and the second side a series of prompts to stimulate your thoughts when leaving a recording.
This video illustrates the atmosphere waiting to go into the bathroom, as no visual documentation only sounds were recorded within (as specified by the artist.) I was one of the last visitors to enter the bathroom. Amy was sitting on a stool and there were items inserted into the bath racks, stuck on the wall tiling and a small series of cups and an ornamental peacock rested on the loo. I moved around the exhibition clockwise listening to the objects. The recordings where whisperlike and you had to get really close to the objects to hear them. I was particularly struck by the musings of someone who wondered about a cat that was featured in another small series of ephemera, whilst one of the objects told me that the most precious item in the room could not be recorded into. An evening spent, waiting, discussing, listening – quietly thrilled – recording, sharing experiences both through objects and throughout whole house.
Bathroom Resident Nr #2 Dr James Lattin and The Museum of Imaginative Knowledge // 09.06.16 Twas with delight and some intrepidation that my parents opened up their bathroom to the Museum of Imaginative Knowledge. Dr James Lattin had proposed bringing along his postcard collection, so naturally their fears rotated around how the cards would be affixed to the walls. The video below offers a ravaging solution. Tours of the Museum for the drawing elite of local primary school proved popular and started with an introduction to the bathroom residency, assessing the role of bathrooms for temporarily displaying items by looking at the items on show in a dolls house bathroom. The young guests were then ushered into the bathroom where museological issues surrounding the storage and display of postcards were discussed alongside the aesthetic and popular culture value of the exhibits themselves. Bathroom Resident Nr #1 Sarah Boulton // 23.02.16
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