THE GRAND
DOMESTIC REVOLUTION

THE GRAND
DOMESTIC REVOLUTION

USER'S MANUAL

‘The Grand Domestic Revolution—User’s Manual’ (GDR) investigates the domestic space and its (changing) use through a variety of methods and disciplines, traversing the fields of art, design, architecture, urban planning, activism and theory. A number of artists and other practitioners contribute to this endeavour. Residents from 2009-2011 include Sepake Angiama, Paul Elliman, and Doris Denekamp who utilized neighbourhood and online research to create prototypes and interventions around the theme of (Green) Cooperativsm. Wietske Maas and Travis Meinolf experimented with Home Production; while 'interor' infrastuctural interventions for the furniture, library and hallways were created by ifau & Jesko Fezer, Mirjam Thomann and Graziela Kunsch. Current themes and residents from February–October 2011 include Kyohei Sakaguchi and Kateřina Šedá who will each investigate forms of usership in architectures; home and housing rights with Maria Pask and Nazima Kadir; the question of invisible and domestic labour taken up by Werker Magazine; Agency will continue its deliberations on copyright issues of domestic THINGS (gardens and textiles); and keywords in relations to food service work will be workshopped with Xu Tan. Parallel to this, the Read-in activity continues. Initiated by artist Annette Krauss and theatre maker, Read-in is an open reading group inhabiting a different neighbour’s home for every session.

LIBRARY

LIBRARY

The GDR library constitutes the backbone of our ongoing ‘living research’ and thus grows over time. The library offers points of engagement with the project and consists of different research materials such as books, articles, images and DVDs (artist’s video, films) that are available for viewing when visiting the apartment. The first installment was done by the GDR team and was later adapted by Sao Paulo-based artist Graziela Kunsch who suggested that the GDR team create thematic selections.

APARTMENT 18B

APARTMENT 18B

'The Grand Domestic Revolution-User's Manual' is a long-term project developed as Casco’s contribution to 'Utrecht Manifest: Biennial for Social Design'. The project deals with the evolutionary and collaborative process of “living” research in the contemporary domestic and private sphere – particularly in relation to the spatial imagining (or the built environment). It aims at re-articulating while exercising the notions of the social, the public and, eventually, the commons.

TOWN MEETINGS

TOWN MEETINGS

TOWN MEETINGS has its genealogy in past regular GDR events from 2009–2010. These include Home Cinema, where the screening of films that touch upon different aspects of domesticity, neighbourhood organisation, urban planning and alternative politics, take place; Thursday Night Supper, occasions for cooking, eating and discussion with various guests, and the midterm manifestation GDR GOES ON which consisted of a series of events over four days in domestic, private, and public spaces in Utrecht.

IN AFFINITY

IN AFFINITY

Since August 2010, the GDR team have undertaken research in order to connect with the local neighbourhood on questions relating to peoples’ social conditions and material environments. Questionnaires, interviews, and conversations are the methods used to explore the themes and problems addressed in GDR, such as self-organised governance, co-operative living, and spatial organisation in and from the domestic sphere.

SEARCH

'I WILL NOT ASK ANYTHING ABOUT YOU, YOU WILL NOT ASK ANYTHING ABOUT ME'

Domestic Workers Netherlands with Matthijs de Bruijne
2011
shadow play film, ca. 10 min

A visual narrative about invisible labour unfolds in four theatrical parts: forms of labour such as cleaning, cooking and care work that take place behind closed doors. The protagonists are part of a union of domestic workers fighting for recognition, changes in working conditions and social protection for their work.

installation view at Volksbuurt Museum

The title refers to the informal and often undocumented status of many domestic workers, alluding to further layers of their invisibility–as members of a society that is not willing to acknowledge the presence of this vital work force, while their presence in public space is highly insecure. The film includes segments of a reflexive dialogue on each scene, closing with a collective song that emphasises less the formation of a union around predefined subject positions, but more on imagining unifying but fluid structures designed to work for you.

Developed for the GDR exhibition, the film is the third collaboration between Domestic Workers Netherlands and Amsterdam-based artist Matthijs de Bruijne.

film still

The full film is available online at http://vimeo.com/32666644

Locations: Volksbuurt Museum
Themes: Domestic Work

All photos by Emilio Moreno unless stated otherwise

Related:

NOTES

Pac-man and shared interests!

www.pkmn.es

PKMN proposes the creation of Domestic Commons, a community that shares, develops and supports experiences on constructing a collective identity of the domestic. Therefore, a platform linked to Creative Commons will be created in an attempt to activate the flow of information, tools and data to instil life to new cycles of domestic research into open access.


more from their website

Rocío Pina and Carmelo Rodríguez (creator of the blog: arqueologiadelfuturo.blogspot.com) are members and co-founders of the group PKMN [pac-man] and ETSAM architects. PKMN [pac-man] is an office and group of architects trained in Madrid in 2006 as an open group for the production and application of architectural and multidisciplinary thought, tools and projects, working on concepts such as the city, body, identity, marketing, communication and memory.

From: Conexiones Improbables in Spain.

28 May 2011, 12.58 — posted by Maiko

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