An Abandoned Farmhouse Transformed Into a Life-Size Dollhouse by Heather Benning Reflects on Ideas of Home



All photographs © Heather Benning, shared with permission

A sight acquainted to those that journey alongside the outdated roads and by-ways of the North American countryside, an deserted farmhouse is a touching reminder of modifications within the panorama and the individuals who reside there. Based mostly in rural Saskatchewan, artist Heather Benning has spent the final a number of years making work that explores themes associated to the influence of large-scale, industrialized agriculture on native communities, household farms, and a way of house. In 2007, this took the form of “The Dollhouse,” a monumental paintings constructed inside a dilapidated homestead close to the tiny city of Sinclair, Manitoba, that had been empty for the reason that Sixties.

Benning eliminated the north wall of the constructing and changed it with giant sheets of plexiglass in order that viewers might peer inside similar to a toddler’s dollhouse, nevertheless it might solely be seen from the outside⁠—there was no method to enterprise inside. Classic furnishings and objects had been positioned all through vividly painted rooms that could possibly be illuminated at night time. Like a stage set eerily devoid of individuals, she wished to discover concepts round presence and absence. “By sealing the home and maintaining the viewers at a take away, viewers had been pressured to be aware of what generates a way of house. I feel ‘The Dollhouse’ goals to talk to our profound want for re-connection with place,” she shares with Colossal.

The home stood till 2013 when, as a part of the unique concept for the mission, it was burned to the bottom. In a short film made in collaboration with filmmaker Chad Galloway, the digicam paperwork the hearth because it engulfs the home fully, prompting the viewer to think about the distinctive grief of shedding a house. The artist provides, “That is perhaps notably poignant at a time once we’re more and more shedding our home-places to unfettered trade and local weather change.”

Prints of “The Dollhouse” can be found for buy from the Benning’s website, and the movie is obtainable to view alongside latest work that continues to discover related themes. It’s also possible to observe her work on Instagram.

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