Details

Object type

set of ornaments

Title

Home Ornaments

Place Associated

Scotland, Glasgow, Gorbals (place associated)

Date

2002-2005

Description

A set of five ornaments entitled ‘Home Ornaments’ by the artist Daphne Wright. Each 'ornament' is displayed on a white shelf and arranged on a white wall af different heights. The ornaments include: an architect’s plan, a polyurethane cast of a 1960s building at the point of demolition; a porcelain guinea-pig complete with drinking bowl; a set of three small knitted cacti; a hand-embroidered silk parrot; and a gesso-framed intaglio print of an orangutan.

Daphne Wright’s 'Home Ornaments' were commissioned by Glasgow based company the Artworks Programme for a building development in the Gorbals area of Glasgow. Instead of producing the expected large sculpture in a public space, she created a series of ornaments, one to be gifted to each resident for display on a specially designed shelf incorporated into their new flat by the architects - Piers Gough architecture. Inhabitants of 127 new properties each received one object from this set as a ‘built-in’ artwork for their homes. The set on display here was presented to Glasgow City Council as a gift and entered into the Glasgow Museums' collection in 2006..

These ornaments evoke memories of household objects and the social history of the Gorbals. Wright considered the estate to be a place made up of knowledge and experiences, rather than just physical space and her research for the commission included conversations and interviews with long-standing residents of the area. She wanted to make works that would serve as a reminder of the area’s history as well as creating links to the future and has commented that:

‘I am interested here in the crossover between the personal and the public…in the idea of the souvenir, the collection, the common day object displayed with pride or alternatively ignored in the attic or cupboard…the object passed down from generation to generation that could increase or decrease in value. '

The gift of a complete set of ornaments to Glasgow Museums amplified the lively debate over taste, meaning, value and ownership generated by this project.

Given by Daphne Wright and the Artworks Programme in 2006.

ID Number

ICE.2006.2

Location

In storage