Homeostasis means; The tendency of a physiological system to maintain
internal stability, owing to the coordinated response of it's
parts to any disruptive situation or stimulus. In the context
of this exhibition the title cynically alludes to the degeneration
of systems which; "Support every working American's God given
right to own a home" (Jimmy Stewart in "It's a wonderful life.")
The
project dealt with local real estate issues in a number of ways.
There was a literal presentation of 12 graphs and lists which
were directly reproduced from local planning and research documents.
The documents clearly delineate the local affordable housing crises.
Behind each document; were recorded audio texts dealing with a
humanistic understanding of home, housing and economics. In the
center of the room were two installations, which dealt with the
issues in a lyrical manner. The first was subtitled "Renters".
Consisting of rows of plexi-glass houses slowly leaking water
(income) into hot steel pans. The sound, humidity and disappearing
water alluded to the economic problems of renting.
The
other end of the room held "Equity", a large plexiglass house
was connected to many plastic tubes creating a siphon. A drip
system delivered a drop of water at regular intervals into the
chimney of the structure. The rising water in the house was duplicated
by the rising water in each of the 50 tubes. This project alludes
to the interconnectedness of real estate prices and the constant
upward climb of equity for the lucky property owner and on the
converse the decline of affordability for the renter.
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