HOMEMADE PROTOTYPES
DECONSTRUCTING DOMESTIC DECORUM
ROOMS
The creation of miniature scenarios dates back to the models found in ancient Egyptian tombs which reveal what daily life in Egypt was like. but they first originated as cabinet houses in the 17th century in northern Europe,
Cabinet houses were not intended for use, but rather as an elaborate display of wealth and social status, and often was a replica of the home it was situated in.
Following this cabinet house, the Nuremberg Kitchen, which was all metal with no ornamentation, became a tool in teaching a young girl how to run a household, Girls learned the important objects of the house by recreating situations within the dollhouse, practised giving orders to the cooks and servant dolls, and learned the importance of being the lady of the household.
It was not until the emergence of the industrial revolution that dollhouses were able to be mass-produced and became more affordable to the public.
Image Title: Your Practical Guide to Beautiful Living
Image Title: 3rd of Ramadan City
Observing rituals within the household, I am currently situated in. One of which is Ramadan. A month in the Islamic calendar that is very closely linked to food - as the times that one can eat are specific. Giving food in charity, making food at home.
My aim was to look at a day, and analyse the activities that I participated in. Ramadan in particular is influenced the most by the prayer times due to Suhoor and Iftaar.
Zooming into the timeline and investigating the relationship between the Scullery and the Kitchen.
Scullery
noun
1. especially in a large old house, a room next to the kitchen where pans are washed and vegetables are prepared for cooking.
2. a small kitchen or room at the back of a house used for washing dishes and other dirty household work.
Image Title: Scullery & Kitchen Cabinet
15:23 A man enters home with a bag of groceries
15:25 A man leaves it on the kitchen table
15:25 A man walks away
15:26 A man calls a domestic worker to pack its contents
15:36 A woman enters the scullery
15:55 A domestic worker sets the eating table - precisely for each occupant
Occupant 01:
Placemat
Plate
Small side plate
Large coffee cup with 1tsp of sugar
Teaspoon
Occupant 02:
Placemat
Plate
Small side plate
Clear coffee cup with
Large glass
Occupant 03:
Placemat
Plate
Small side plate
Bowl
Tablespoon
Teacup
Teaspoon
Small glass
Occupant 04:
Placemat
Small side plate
Coffee cup
Teaspoon
Bowl
Tablespoon
Large Glass
16:14 A domestic worker cuts, peels and prepares ingredients for cooking
16:25 A woman cooks the food and the accompaniments
17:32 A man sits at the head of the table on his cellphone waiting to be served
17:37 Everyone eats
17:59 A domestic worker gets called for after the meal
18:06 A domestic worker clears out dirty dishes from the kitchen table
18:13 A domestic worker washes them
18:33 A woman gives a domestic worker leftover food in an old ice cream container
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 beetroot
2 Tblsp turmeric powder
2 Tblsp ground coriander
2 Tblsp paprika
2 Tblsp loose tea leaves
Method:
1. Soak fabric in a dish of tap water over night
2. Put ingredients in 5 different pots using 8 cups of water in each
3. Boil
4. Once reaches a boil, simmer for 30 minutes
5. Strain the ingredients from the dye
6. Add wet fabric (dishcloths and old curtain) to dye
7. Simmer for 2 hours
8. Steep overnight
9. Rinse with cold water
10 Dry
Using the technique of dying fabric with vegetable dyes and the product of colour as a tool to document the stains, labour and time.
Image Title:
Evening Tea & Indian Delights - an eating plate
(Oil, tumeric, tea, coriander, paprika dye )
Weisman's (2002:2) description of the spaces in the home is a general one, the living room, the bedroom, the kitchen, children's room and the garage. What she does not mention are the architectural complexities and hierarchies in the home that are starting to be revealed. Some houses have rooms within rooms, some rooms are interconnected, some are merely unused unless, for a special occasion, some have secret corridors, and in particular to the context of South Africa where some of the architecture was heavily influenced by slave labour in the 1600s, sculleries, maid quarters, servants entrances, and passages.
My project aims to draw out the architecture that reveals the hidden labours that are not only gendered but also unequal.