Inertia: of interior, surface, matter

inertia: OF interior, surface, matter is a creative practice-led doctoral research project that asks: What can an interior surface do? This seemingly simple and open-ended question set in motion a series of creative works that inquired about an interior’s material constitution as a site of political protest and everyday demonstration, a surface of resistance and compliance, and a space of ethical exchange and engagement. Dwelling primarily in the domains of interior design, spatial design and architecture, the project liberally migrated amongst other bodies of knowledge such as continental feminist philosophy, fine art practice, contemporary social science theory, building construction and material science as a means to disrespect, to cross out, or to cross over artificial divides separating theory and practice, interior and exterior, art and design, making and philosophy. Incited by this transdisciplinary material feminist ethos, I found myself working at full scale, using common materials and technologies, testing the limits of my own labouring (female) body and creating sculptural objects, performative installations, site-specific exhibitions, videos and spatial practice essays to liberate interior surfaces from an oppression of supposed inertia. These creative works and the accompanying critical reflection attest to interior surfaces as affective and affirmative assemblages of live, politically-charged matter and highlight a future research trajectory focused on the advocacy of a sustaining ethical engagement with matter developed at the synapse of art, design and philosophy.