Introducing my wardrobe.
Wardrobe, closet, cupboard, cabinet, press, armoire, drawer – spaces hidden, contained, sometimes secret. Things are kept within, on top, at the bottom, out of sight. Private, personal, intimate spaces. Spaces of fantasy and wonder – the possibility of worlds beyond.
Mr Ben comes to mind in thinking about the possibility of what lies within a wardrobe, dressing up and other states and places we can go to depending on what we wear. Although my principle interest is in the furniture itself, bedroom furniture. In ‘The lion, the witch and the wardrobe’ it is a transitional object, from one world to another, and considered by some as a Christian metaphor.
Things kept at the bottom of the wardrobe can be secret, special, long forgotten. A place for letters, photos, things we hang on to but don’t use or look at until a ‘spring clean’ or tidy up. Rediscovering these items can trigger a re-look, reminiscing and transport us to other internal spaces and worlds long forgotten.
We hang on to things, and this can be a space that allows us to do so. A clear out can be a significant step in letting go of the emotional attachment and associations we have with the things we have kept there for so long.
This was my nan’s wardrobe. I inherited several pieces of furniture and this is something I like for its size and shape, but is not very useful. It has moved around to different places, and is something I can’t part with but can’t find a practical use for either. It seemed a useful starting point in working with this space at St Mary’s in the Castle, the crypt and its alcoves having long been a place I have wanted to work in. So using this object as a starting point to explore the space within and my own internal space seemed like a useful one.
I will spend time each weekend working in this space to experiment and translate ideas of working with the space ‘between’ (e.g. the internal and external; the real and unreal). I will document this in photographs and display these to map my development between the start of the exhibition and the end. 31st October 2010
This was my starting point for recent time spent with the wardrobe in an alcove space in a crypt. It seems a reasonable place to start here and an introduction to me and my wardrobe.
