Wednesday 27th June 09.30
- 10.35 Keynote IV
10.35 - 11.00 Coffee
11.00 - 12.35 Strands
12.35 - 13.45 Lunchtime
13.45 - 14.50 Keynote V
14.50 - 15.30 Tea & Conclusions
Strand B
Jackie Batey, University of Portsmouth and University of Brighton
Anxious Homes; Cursory-Cleaning
for the imminent arrival of visitors,
or how to give the impression of a clean house in under 20 minutes.
Presentation of the inspiration, planning and production of this limited
edition, humorous, artist's book.
Anxious Homes was created as an antidote to all the "Life Instructions"
that crowd our lives. By "life instructions" I am focussing on how-to-do-it
skills that we are generally lacking, when we leave school. Adult chores
such as housework, healthy living, DIY, etiquette and how to amuse yourself
on a rainy day are thrown in our path on the way to becoming a responsible
and competent grown-ups. My interest focuses on books and magazine tearsheets
from the 1940s through to the 1960s, I have a particular fondness for
cigarette advertising, homemaking journals and etiquette instructions
both US and UK. The passing of time can make us see clearer, when looking
back at the attitudes and assumed aspirations of the intended consumer
leading to a sense of where we have come from. It is also easier to see
the pressures that are loaded upon the individual, Is your home tidy?
Can you cook? Can you fix a broken fence? Can you eat an orange without
making a mess of yourself? The implication is that the reader is generally
quite useless and unable to cope in the modern world. I find the tone
of how-to-do-it instructions can be very funny when taken out of context.
Using satire to tackle the concept of appropriate behaviour is something
I am exploring within my own work.
Anxious Homes aims to fill a gap in the marketplace. It is the guide book
for people who have no time or inclination to do things properly, the
guide we all need when hurriedly cleaning the house when guests are due.
This guide seeks to reassure us all that we are not alone in being "a
bit rubbish at things". It attempts to explode the myth that once adulthood
is reached an inherent ability to put up shelves suddenly reveals itself.
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