MULTIPLE OCCUPANCY, 19th-29th October 2011, Hatch Space

‘Occupants Will Vary’ by Jenny Steele
2011 Pencil, pen and letter transfer on paper 120 x 260 cm

‘Schematic: Hatch Space 2011’ by Harriet Hill
2011 Felt, wire, expanding foam, paint 240 x 125 cm


MULTIPLE OCCUPANCY is a 2 person exhibition by Harriet Hill and Jenny Steele that explores the in-habitation and use of space within the built environment of the Faircharm Trading Estate and the Hatch Space studios themselves. MULTIPLE OCCUPANCY aims to record, reflect and celebrate the current activity in these mixed-use spaces within this heterogeneous community.

Jenny Steele exhibits a map, ‘Occupants Will Vary’, 2011, that charts movement and spacial use within the micro community of the Faircharm Trading Estate. For the past month, she has spent time questioning and observing the organisations and individuals that occupy this multi-functional block of units. The map ‘Occupants Will Vary’, communicates data regarding use of physical and digital space compiled through an online questionnaire, presenting a sample of potential usage at any one time. The work is informed by social anthropologist Timothy Ingold's research that highlights the static nature of maps, that are unrepresentative of physical in-habitation and movement.

Steele's practice considers our constant in-habitation of digital space by playing on metaphors of physical space, cartography, architecture and town planning. Through her multi disciplinary practice, she continually seeks ways in which to come to terms with the intangibility of the digital, and its clash with our embedded cognitive behaviour and cartesian perspectives. Steele is currently based at Rogue Studios, Manchester, and is the Artist in Residence at Manchester Metropolitan University for 2011-12. Steele is a graduate of Goldsmiths MFA (2007).

Harriet Hill has created ‘Schematic: Hatch Space 2011’ as a response to the microcosm of Hatch Space Studios. The idea of the central space which acts as both a self contained gallery for public communication and an expanded corridor; an interstice with doors leading off into the autonomous artists’ studios beyond. The fixed nature of exhibits in a gallery contrasts with the life and activity in an artist’s studio and the shifting nature of the creative process. Both are spaces for thought and provocation. Hill takes this idea and the physical structure of the space and works viscerally, using materials specific to her practice. Out of this a piece evolves which is then drawn out into the space. This sets up a dynamic that seeks to question the fundamental relationship between the viewer, the object and the space that contains and defines them.

Through her practice, Hill explores ideas around the conflict between autonomy and belonging and the fact that we are drawn to that which is more powerful than ourselves – physical, social, political, theistic. This manifests in her work, through the notion that a physical entity – object, material, structure, space – can simultaneously incite both desire and repulsion. Hill is based in London, and is also a graduate of Goldsmiths MFA (2007).

MULTIPLE OCCUPANCY: 19th- 29th October 2011, Open Wed- Sun12-6pmOpen Day Event – Saturday 22nd October 2011, 12pm -6pm
South London Art Map Last Fridays – Friday 28th October 2011, 6-9pm