The House Protects the Dreamer, September 2021
In truth we are all in a constant state of flux and, in the home, tension can emerge between the need for a safe space and the need for freedom.
In Safehouse 2, London, Henny Burnett, Esmé Clutterbuck and Emma created a familiar yet slightly skewed environment. It questioned the notion ‘The house shelters day-dreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace’, Gaston Bachelard, (Poetics of Space).
Safehouse 2 is one of the extraordinary London venues for exhibitions, theatre and film managed by Maverick Projects. Its timber skeleton framed the work from every angle and the peeling painted walls dictated what the artists were able to hang. The ‘install’ included making four pieces on site in response to the venue’s current state. In some ways, the process was akin to home-making and in others it was a totally fresh experience.
“I’ve never known a building ‘dictate’ with such force what it might be prepared to put up with.”
The works directly below are by Emma.
Installation views, including pieces by Henny Burnett & Esmé Clutterbuck. (The WASH WASH WASH piece is a collaboration: Henny and Emma.)
