DOMESTIC TRACES
(W.I.P.)
Domestic labour is about maintenance; taking care and looking after. It is an action that tends to go unnoticed, as it is about making sure things are in place so that the daily cycle can continue.
In the old Dutch custom of making sand-carpets, the domestic act of cleaning becomes an act of creation. On Sundays or festive days housewives used to make sand patterns on the floor so that the tiles got sanded clean as people walked over it throughout the week.
Instead of referring to the original floral motives, the pattern of ‘Domestic Traces’ derives from gestures; starting from a kneeled position using the body and its proportions to make traces. The presence of the domestic worker is recorded in the pattern of the sand.
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In the old Dutch custom of making sand-carpets, the domestic act of cleaning becomes an act of creation. On Sundays or festive days housewives used to make sand patterns on the floor so that the tiles got sanded clean as people walked over it throughout the week.
Instead of referring to the original floral motives, the pattern of ‘Domestic Traces’ derives from gestures; starting from a kneeled position using the body and its proportions to make traces. The presence of the domestic worker is recorded in the pattern of the sand.
