Inside the (laundry) Closet
“At last Burchill quits here after 30 years service Jan 13, 1943 – Cheerio” is written neatly in pencil on the interior doorframe of a tiny closet by the butler upon his retirement – ironically, perhaps, right next to the doorknob. Covered in personal declarations, observations of the coming and going of employees and residents of the Perkin’s mansion from the 1930s to the present, this hidden written history reveals as much as it is concealed. To leave the notations (and to make photographic documentation of them) required the authors to conceal themselves in a very tight environment where vision is strained at best.
The results are documented in a life-size accordion fold artist book. Images here include photographic details inside the closet and a mock-up of the proposed book layout. Accompanying essays by colleagues Dr. Alisia Chase, Art Historian and Dr. Barb LeSavoy, Chair of Women and Gender Studies at the College at Brockport, State University of New York will provide context for this revealing history of class, gender, and family politics. Anticipated publication date: June 2015.
Deposit Refundable
hanger inside the closet
Inside the (laundry) closet
layout of the book, assembled digital images, sculptural accordion fold book, approximate size 90 x 36", 2014