I often encounter prejudice in the form of a snide comment from a person that is usually waiting for an agreeing nod or a snigger, like we’re all in on it.  I’m still taken aback when it happens, particularly when it’s directed at the homeless.  I’m not going to list the assumptions made about them here, but like always with prejudice against ‘other’ people the manner of stereotyping assumes that ‘they’ are ‘all the same’.

Last night I attended a Community Dinner at the Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre.  My experience was that none of the people who were there for a communal free meal, access to nurses, a laundry van and other vital services were the same at all.  I met unique individuals who were generous in their time and conversation.  Sincerity is what I experienced, a rare and precious aspect of humanity that is often difficult to come by, and humbling when in such abundance as I experienced at the Neighbourhood Centre.   We laughed, we philosophised, and for the first time I was asked how I answered the questionnaire.

Be yourself

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The reason behind the question is the possibility of a new location to canvas in my quest to find Integrity.  One particularly optimistic and relaxed gentleman replied ‘SCUH’.  This is an abbreviation of Sunshine Coast University Hospital. 

He’d been a patient there not long ago and said that all the staff were genuine, caring and considerate.

A hospital makes for a slippery social landscape.  It is a place where life and wellbeing can be tentative.  At the same time it is a place for transformation and care.  Hospitals usually make me feel uncomfortable through past traumatic experience.  The aesthetics, the smells and sounds, all meld to conjure bad memories…but not here.  SCUH does still look like a hospital, but its hyper-featured architecture and super new surfaces give it an air of optimism, efficiency and progression, a contrast from the medical institutions we may be used to.

As dynamic as this location may sound, it was not an easy space to morally navigate.  I remained outside in an expansive courtyard delineated with gardens and seating.  It felt designated as a place to relax.  I was very conscious that patients might be in a delicate mood and the staff with their mind on their work.  It made it difficult to approach people directly and with confidence.  I selected individuals carefully, and consequently collected some enlightening insights that aligned with my own experience within the courtyard.

Respect.  Be true to yourself and mindful of your surroundings.

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On my first venture I hit the streets of Maroochydore from my HQ at the Lock-up, and headed to the library.  In front of the library there is a magnificent old cotton tree that creates a perfectly shaded canopy over some public seating.  This is where I popped out my sign ‘your advice please’.  I had a clipboard prepped with a questionnaire that might reveal something of a local character, both aesthetically and metaphysically.

To familiarise myself with my new location and ease myself into my new role I photographed my surroundings.  These images, along with audio field recordings, will go towards creating location portraits.

I broke the ice by asking a lady leaving the library if she would mind taking a picture of me ‘on the job’.  She became the first person to share her insight into what it is to live with Integrity on the Sunshine Coast.

The aesthetic experience of the Sunshine Coast was written out in blues, yellow and crashing waves on the beach. 

The metaphysical experience was a lot more complex and intimate. 

It seems that there are fundamental elements that epitomise a community, but the individual lends a dynamism through which it can thrive.

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When I read about the Leviny Sisters at Buda I thought I was reading a fairytale. It’s a history that fascinates me. The complete redecoration of their late father’s house with their own handiwork in the philosophy and style of the Arts and Crafts movement spoke to my imagination. A persistent image I had been grappling with for months was of a woman transforming herself into a wild thing by sewing herself a second skin from her fur coat. When I read about the sisters I knew this place was somehow in the same world as my vision.

Further research has lead me into the lives of the Leviny family, the Arts and Crafts movement, and literature of the time including Virginia Woolf. What started as a hunch that this place may be interesting has turned into a dance for joy.

A quick list of some things I’ve noticed in my research:

• An integrated process of design and making,
• material honesty and integrity,
• accessible good design for all households,
• women finding creative spaces domestic or not,
• and an interest in medieval craft

These are just some of the ideas and themes that are relevant to my own work, and I recognise in the work of my peers and in the international art world. I will extrapolate on them in future posts.

So in brief my project SKIN is focused on the domestic space as creative space through the story of the Leviny sisters at Buda. Key questions in researching this are: What does producing creative work at home do to the domestic space? How does the environment and surroundings affect the work? And this relationship between home and creativity, does it affect the way makers and viewers value, interact with and understand the work? The development showing at the end of the residency will be a combination of craft and performance, in Buda house.

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