“Housewarming”, collaborative exhibition with Asta Lynge & Nikhil Vettukattil, 3236RLS/Le Bourgeois, London, 2019
“Housewarming” exhibition with Asta Lynge and Nikhil Vettukattil 3236RLS / Le Bourgeois, London
9 November - 11 January 2020
Conceived through a dialogue between the artists centred specifically on the ‘house’ as simultaneously shelter and a place of control, an organising principle and container for ideology, one-way mirrored privacy film has been applied on the gallery’s shop-front windows. In this installation allowing passing traffic to see into the gallery whilst blocking the occupants view out - its reverse side reflecting the interior back into the space. This exhibition-as-home is furnished with three artworks: a desk, a stove and a children’s portable playhouse.
“The miniature fabric playhouse populated by soft brightly coloured Memphis-like furniture, is fitted with a hidden speaker that narrates the story of a team of experts that carry out situated market research to the viewer and the humanoid ‘Göönk’ creatures inhabiting it. Manufactured by IKEA in the mid-90s, the object becomes a mis-en-scene for children, projecting a story of social organisation, anthropological market research in homes, and technical objects seeking to streamline consumer habits.”
Matilda Tjäder, “The Göönk House” fabric house and audio theatre (07:28), 2019
“What does this house actually contain? A sofa, an armchair, a chaise lounge, a rug, a lamp, a table, a TV, some curtains, and a piano. And the creatures of course. But this is not an inventory, it’s the living cast for your next interior fantasy. It’s the model home properly tested before it goes out on the market. This manicured landscape is like a makeup-box, a house of vanity – filled with amenities of different shades and colours, made into a sellable product. The company prints 217 million catalogues featuring their furniture and model homes every year. Their aim is to transform
every home in the world into a regulated environment, one like the creatures have come to inhabit for a period of time.”