- Venue
- Ark T-Centre
- Location
- South East England
Broken Home
Broken Home, by Cait Sweeney and Suzy Prior is a peculiar synthesis of site-specific installation, architectural intervention and touring sculpture. Consisting of a central architectural structure which can be erected anywhere, the space so defined is adapted appropriately to the venue.
I first encountered “Broken Home” in its dismantled state, as a pile of ‘stuff’ in the middle of Cait’s living room, resembling the contents of an outlandish garage sale. Immediately, the urge to rummage through the collection of objects (some beautiful retro, some broken, some both) overtook me, before Cait admonished me “Be careful, Jon, that’s my work”.
My next view of this piece was in Templars Square shopping centre in Oxford, fully assembled. Cait and her daughter happened to be “in residence” that afternoon, though not “in character”. I had brought my son with me, together with a flask of hot chocolate. We squeezed ourselves into the installation and found seats somehow – my son perched on a chair with a missing leg, while I balanced on top of a wobbly step ladder.
The hot chocolate went down very well, while Cait related the stories of the various artifacts around us, suspended in mid-air. We were constantly interrupted by viewers, many of whom mistook the installation for a whacky shop booth, enquiring whether the items were for sale.
This day, as I mentioned, Cait was “out of character”, and thus spent her time talking to visitors, answering questions, and explaining the interactive nature of the piece … in theory, everyone is invited to leave any artifact of their own, and take whatever they like the look of. However, it soon became apparent that certain of the more attractive artifacts are firmly “off limits”, while the indiscriminate dumping of any-old-rubbish is politely discouraged!
On many days, the installation is unoccupied and unattended. On some days, such as this day, the artists are available for conversation. On other days, the artists are “in character” as Sidney and Elsie, the ageing and anachronistic residents of the broken home. On such days, the piece moves a little away from the conceptual interventions of Cornelia Parker and a little towards the whacky street theatre of Welfare State International.
My third encounter with the work was in the ArkT community and arts centre, café and Church space also in Oxford (with bread and wine now on the table, replacing the tea and hot chocolate). Now firmly off the street, with an audience familiar with the formalities of gallery spaces, the piece took on a much more precious atmosphere. No longer an intriguing fantasy space, inviting all and sundry to play … now a work of art to be observed, walked around, reflected upon, evaluated and discussed. Though less physically engaged, viewers were more emotionally engaged, many clearly moved.
Easing oneself into the structure and consuming hot chocolate now felt taboo, although nothing had changed but for the venue. For me, in this context, it lost much of its charm, though gained its rightful academic credentials and appreciation as a thoughtful and thought-provoking work of art.
This work can be appreciated on many levels, and has something for everybody. My kids loved it, gazing at and handling the many ordinary household objects, many of them broken, and listening wide-eyed to the stories that lay behind them.
For me, the broken and apparently randomly arranged familiar objects, like a home in the middle of a process of chaotic deconstruction, recalled for me both the destruction of my own childhood home through my father’s death, and the more recent breakdown of my relationship and consequent destruction of the home.
As a social intervention, this piece forms a visually intriguing intervention in “ordinary” mundane space, a random injection of the sacred into the profane, drawing ordinary people going about their daily business into discussion, conversation, debate, thought and self-expression. Though the title “Broken Home” is a term from the past, it’s clear from the audience reactions that this work addresses a very live social and political issue.
The wearing of white coats during construction and dismantling, as a signifier of retail park authority, drew passers-by into asking “What are you doing?”. The crucial moment of audience engagement.
There’s plenty here for the academics, as well. Loud echoes of Eno & Anderson’s “Self Storage”, Cornelia Parker’s “Cold Dark Matter”, and Michael Landy’s “Break Down”. More distant resonances with Kurt Schwitters’ “Merzbau”, and some of Duchamp’s sculptural works.
This collaboration between Suzy, a photographer and film maker, and Cait, recently graduated in “Interior Architecture: Design & Practice” gracefully occupies the middle ground between Fine Art and Architecture. “Architecture has to stand up to use” says Cait, somewhat dismissive of the fragility of much “Fine Art”, though she clearly defines herself as an artist with architectural interests, rather than vice versa.
Citing influences including Louise Bourgeois, Duchamp (especially “Nude descending staircase), Picasso’s cubism, and architectural historian Jane Rendell, Cait and Suzy see themselves as exploding the myth of interior architecture: “It’s not just about structural elements” enthuses Cait, “but about the personal elements and the narrative they create and maintain. We need to get away from Art that people don’t understand, and Architecture that produces buildings that don’t work.”
Do people understand it? Does it make people think? Not so for the gangs of teenage girls, voicing their anger at this uninvited intrusion onto their territory, and failing to reflect on this process. Nor for the author of the comment “Load of old rubbish, innit?”.
Moreso for the lady who observed: “Have these teacups got saucers, dear? They’re no good without the saucers, you know”. But greatly so for the countless passers-by who stopped, handled the objects, asked questions, mused, discussed, and who often left objects of their own to add to the collection.
This work is still in its infancy, with plans that extend to documentation of the objects and their real and imagined histories; packaging and exhibition of donated items that never made it into the Home; short films of, and about, visitors; and further developments too numerous to include here.
I have really enjoyed this piece on 3 occasions now, it’s well worth a visit, especially if you can find Sidney and Elsie at home. It does what it says on the tin, and considerably more. This piece looks set to grow and grow, and I’m looking forward to its future appearances – Chetwoods Architects, 16th May to 10th June being the next confirmed incarnation.
