Images from Flat 34 website.
On the first of each month until the end of the summer, six Goldsmiths MA students will open the doors to their flat in Ewen Henderson Court halls for art.
Flat 34, the number of their flat and the name of the project, is “a way for the space to recreate itself,” said Anne Breure, one of the students involved. The idea behind the project was to question and transform the limited space students have in the halls.
“Some people say that halls are like a prison. Living in flat 34, which is situated right in the middle of the building, we felt that quite strongly.”
Anne Breure
The first pop-up show is set to take place on March 1 and will exhibit the works of several Goldsmiths students – including digital art performances, music and food.
“The gallery is a framework,” explained Breure. “What we want is to create a space for an encounter. We want people to get involved and explore the context they are in.”
She added: “What is interesting about doing an art exhibition in our rooms at the halls is that people will question what is exhibited and what is not. There will be a book exhibited on my desk, for example, but I also have books on my shelves – where is the limit?”
In addition to the exhibition, the first open house will feature the musical stylings of a DJ, who is also a fellow student.
The food on offer will be soup-centric, Breure explained: “We are all from different programmes and from different countries so we wanted to include this in the project. We will be serving a typical soup and drink from a different country at each event.”
Since most of the students participating in the project are MA students and will only be in the halls for a year, Breure said that they would continue with the pop-up art space until the end of summer. She hoped that it would “live on and continue somewhere else.”
Breure added: “What is interesting and political about Flat 34 is that it is outside the system, in the sense that we are not using a real gallery or space, but it is also using the system and its codes.”
Flat 34 is open to everyone on March 1 at Ewen Henderson Court, 40 Goodwood Road, from 5pm to 10pm. Borscht and vodka will be served for £4. More information can be found on www.flat34.org
By Gaëlle Laforest
this is incredibly pretentious. it’s a dorm room. for you to sleep in when you’re not in class or work. there is no encounters or political context. the system and it’s codes….the bottom line is that all it is is a crap little room in crap student housing. nothing more to see.