For this assignment I decided to change a familiar space. Lockdown has mean that I have been spending most of my time sitting at my desk in my bedroom. I started by turning my desk on its side and placing objects around it. I ended up taking a time-lapse video of myself in the space.
Starting Space
First Spacial Change
Throughout the time-lapse its visible how uncomfortable I am. I’m constantly moving about unsure of where to be or sit. As my desk was no longer usable as a desk I started placing pages onto it with blue tack. By taking away the space my desk had previously occupied I ended up covering the flour with more object. Which look away floor space and made it feel very cluttered. The clutter made me very uncomfortable as I was really worried I would break something. I also noticed that it brought everything to the ground which made me instinctively sit or lie on the floor. This reminded me of Martin Creed’s Half the air in a given space exhibition, where they filled rooms half way with balloons. If I did the same in this space the balloons would have covered me and all of my things. Leaving the top half of the room as unused space.
Second Spacial change
Next I decided to cover my bed with a white bed sheet. The white sheet takes away the context and personalised aspect of my bed. This gave my bed a very clean and clinical feel.
I also decided to see how my cat, King, would react to the changed space. Prior to lockdown he would spend more time in my room than me. Which is why I thought it only made sense to gage his reaction as well.
I found his reaction interesting as at the beginning he stayed in my lap. This is very out of character for him. He took comfort in being close to me as I was the only familiar aspect of the space. It didn’t take him long to recognise the bed as familiar and settled easily next to me. Cats use more than just their eyes to recognise an object so it makes sense he was unfazed by the sheet on the bed.
King actually ended up helping me feel more relaxed in the space. I was more distracted by him than my surroundings. Like any pet he made me feel less alone in the space.