The great Australian dream: a house

Research Background This catalogue essay discusses the artworks and concerns that underpinned the exhibition, Housed by artist Elvis Richardson which was exhibited at the Margaret Lawrence gallery in 2009. The essay examined how artists such as Richardson have used art to respond to crises in housing in urbanised locales such as Melbourne and proposed suggestions on how communities could develop sustainable and affordable housing solutions. Macarow discussed Richard's installation which comprised of paper works which resemble Monopoly money and a floor based work made of carpet originally from a Victorian public housing flat as a means of depicting the "precarious divide between public and private housing and capital". Research Contribution The aim of the essay was to reflect upon the concerns about housing affordability explored in Elvis Richardson's exhibition and to propose ways in which governments could build housing projects to deal with a lack of affordable housing. The essay proposes models for developing affordable and sustainable housing through drawing on artist's projects such as Martha Rosler's exhibition and book, If You Lived Here (1991) and current discourse and initiatives regarding Australian housing. Macarow's catalogue essay contributes to current debates about socially engaged art and affordable housing by her exploration of Richardson's exhibition and her proposal that Australian communities need a variety of options in housing including energy efficient affordable homes. Research Significance This catalogue essay was chosen by the editors of Bureau 2 from a vast selection of catalogue essays written for exhibitions at the Margaret Lawrence Gallery from 2009 - 2014. (cont. on research coversheet)