Firstly, I did not expect the wareHouse to be that big and I did not expect the collection to include such a wide variety of works. When we first stepped into the interior of the building I have to admit that I was not that impressed, except for the great decor, but then we stepped further into the building and I was shocked. The gallery space is more extensive than you would originally think, the space expanded and in it were photographs, constructions of tree houses, doll houses, modern interpretation of homes, traditional interpretations of home, the home as an abstract, and homes that you could actually step into. It was amazing and I wished we had more than an hour to explore the gallery fully.
I came into the wareHouse looking for “Enchanted” by Enrique Martinez Celaya. But the sheer amount of houses was amazing and my attention was pulled in several different directions. Although I did find Celaya’s piece, I was more drawn to two other works instead. Situated in a room by itself stood Hans Op de Beeck’s A House by the Sea, 2010. It was a dollhouse made from a variety of materials with little furniture. It was attention-grabbing because this big beautiful house is a light gray structure with at least four stories and a basement. There were multiple rooms with miniature furniture and some lights that were lit inside the house including on at the very top–almost like a lighthouse. However, there was something off about the dollhouse. The front deck had a chair and wine glasses knocked to the ground, doors were left open, furniture upturned, a bed without a mattress, and the dark and seemingly empty basement. It told a story and served to give an almost eerie sense, something has happened and we as the viewer do not know what took place. The desolate landscape does not yield any clues and its coloring mimics the color of the home.
When we talked with the curator she told gave us some insight into the space. The house is placed in its own separate room with a darkish, dusky purple color on the walls with crown molding on the borders. A photograph of an ocean scene rests to one side which makes sense when she told us that the house is influenced by beach houses in Belgium. The whole room, she said, was designed in a room to give off the impression of being in a room in the house. The space added to the mystery while simultaneously giving context, an interesting and complementary mix. This work, in particular, has given me some inspiration of my own. It reminded me of building a dollhouse when I was younger, and I think I would like to build a similar structure with the same sense of mystery that Op de Beeck gave their work.
