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Historic Precedents

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1 / 10 · Quare Art Project | Spitalfields, London | 1723 | Photograph 2011 | © Frances Holliss

2 / 10 · Quare Art Project | Interior as dwelling | Spitalfields, London | 1723 | Photograph 2011 | © Frances Holliss

3 / 10 · Quare Art Project | Interior as dwelling | Spitalfields, London | 1723 | Photograph 2011 | © Frances Holliss

4 / 10 · Quare Art Project | Garden when residential | Spitalfields, London | 1723 | Photograph 2011 | © Frances Holliss

5 / 10 · Quare Art Project | Furniture and possessions in bathroom | Spitalfields, London | 1723 | Photograph 2011 | © Frances Holliss

6 / 10 · Quare Art Project | Transformation in process | Spitalfields, London | 1723 | Photograph 2011 | © Frances Holliss

7 / 10 · Quare Art Project | Transformation in process | Spitalfields, London | 1723 | Photograph 2011 | © Frances Holliss

8 / 10 · Quare Art Project | Private View 'The Year-Going' | Spitalfields, London | 1723 | Photograph 2011 | © Frances Holliss

9 / 10 · Quare Art Project | Private View 'The Year-Going' | Spitalfields, London | 1723 | Photograph 2011 | © Frances Holliss

10 / 10 · Quare Art Project | Private View 'The Year-Going' | Spitalfields, London | 1723 | Photograph 2011 | © Frances Holliss

Wanting control of a space in which to work with their peers, ex-Slade sculptors Faith Edwards and JT Lowen have created a gallery, the Quare Art Project, in Edwards’ ground floor Spitalfields flat. Built in 1723, the building was originally a workhome for a silk dealer; in the C19 it became a dairy. In 1989 was taken over by Newlon Housing Trust as social housing and Edwards, a Newlon tenant for over 2 years, moved into the flat in 2009. Exploiting the potential of both the central location and the space, Edwards and Lowen have run 13 shows since then. A film by Rebecca Birch ‘The Year-Going’ is currently showing [23 Sept-2 October 2011].

In order to transform the small flat into a gallery, all traces of domestic habitation are erased. Edwards’ furniture and possessions are packed away into the bathroom, the wall mounted TV is removed, pictures and mirrors are taken down. Edwards goes to stay with Lowen for the duration of the show.

This workhome presents a new type, one that does not fit into existing Workhome Project typologies. Neither ‘live-with’, ‘live-adjacent’ nor ‘live-nearby’, this might be considered as an ‘either-or’ category. The spaces are used, serially, as entirely dwelling or entirely workplace, either-or…