Time_line
in collaboration with Eric Neilson, Gabe Flores and Michelle Wood
Materials found in the house were organized to tell a linear history of the people connected to each of the objects, and their relationship to the house. Three sections represent the most recent occupants in the house. A path runs through the work, which serves as a walkway for Marmalade – the 17 year old cat that lives there – and who is connected to all three eras. (Homemade orange marmalade was served during the opening).
Era 1 is represented by the table that Delpa – a single black woman who owned the house by herself from 1926 – would sit at daily and look out the window. There is a hole made in the wall where the window was, to mark what her view would’ve been. Era 2 is represented by many of the objects that the second owner “Ernie” hoarded, and Era 3 is referred to by the re-installation of the “hovel” (as named by Gabe, the present owner) – the small architectural piece that was originally in another room that the present owner sleeps and works in, as the rest of the house is used as a gallery.
During the opening, there was an impromptu performance: Michelle slept up in the “hovel” throughout the four hour opening, signifying Gabe’s living there. He was also represented through my wearing his clothes and name badge during the opening.
Michelle Wood after performance + 2 views of project
This work is one of three parts of:
a commemoration in several parts: an investigation of our relationship to a place (Surplus)
link to Surplus Gallery page.
October 31, 2015 – November 20, 2015
senseofplace LAB was invited by Gabe Flores, the director of Surplus Space – an alternative gallery in Portland – to create a work in October that would mark the final show and the end of the space.
a commemoration in several parts is an investigation into the physical and emotional properties of Surplus Space and the area surrounding it, as well as the relationship Surplus Space has had with its community.
senseofplace LAB invited contributions from the community to create this project. Thru working with the Surplus community over a period of three days, senseofplace LAB created a three-part installation as an artistic reflection on the inside/outside of the space, to tell the layered stories of this place.