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HABITUS, 2010-2012

Habitus, made in collaboration with Ray Barrie, recounts memories of the generation born during, or just after, World War II. The installation is comprised of two structures, one based on the Anderson Shelter, the other, on the Morrison Shelter. Both were mass-produced for home use during air raids in Britain, and the preoccupation with shelters persisted throughout the Cold War. In Type I, the roof is ‘corrugated’ with anecdotal texts that are legible only by looking ‘underground’ into a mirrored floor. In Type II, the table is ‘set’ with conversations that filter into a sleeping space below. Both merge the uncanny domesticity of the garden shed and the kitchen table with the hallucinatory space of nuclear annihilation.

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Habitus, Type I, 2010

Laser cut acrylic, mirror and wood
48 x 96 x 96 inches

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Habitus, Type I, 2010

Laser cut acrylic, mirror and wood
48 x 96 x 96 inches

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Habitus Type II, 2012

Laser cut acrylic, wire mesh and wood
30 x 48 x 78 inches

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Habitus Type II, Detail

Laser cut acrylic, wire mesh and wood
30 x 48 x 78 inches

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