The lightness of one and three doors

RESEARCH BACKGROUND: SITUATION was the Interior Design Educators Association (IDEA) symposium and exhibition biennial, designed as a platform for national and international community of scholars to engage with current issues in the field, foster research and stimulate teaching and research practices. In 2014, RMIT was IDEA's partner institution to host the event. Carey's project was one of 18 selected for exhibition. The curators were: Suzie Attiwill (Deputy Dean, Learning & Teaching, RMIT), Simon Maidment (Curator of Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Victoria), Kate Rhodes (Curator of Design, Design Hub, RMIT) & Sven Mehzoud (Interior Architecture, Monash University). RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION: Carey's 'lightness' was a site specific response to Gallery 1 at RMIT's Design Hub. He mapped the exisited floor to ceiling door and its dimensions onto the opposite wall then used an orbital sander to sandback the topcoat of paint within the new dimensions mapped on the wall. After the paint had been subtracted, the wall was painted back to its original condition. The project was a slow material engagement with the site, extending Carey's research practice into ways of reconstructing, observing, occupying and honouring interiors of all sorts, especially sites in transition. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE: The event was funded by IDEA. The Curatorium profile deliberately included high profile curators in the field of contemporary practice, who were actively engaged in the selection and review process. All submissions for the exhibition and symposium were double blind reviewed (by two reviewers) from a group of international and national experts in their fields: the acceptance rate for the exhibition was 55%. The event drew 1273 visitors. Following the event, the symposium proceedings were published online.