Caravan – Stay is a mobile performance work, a social sculpture, which involves the 'hacking' or occupation of urban systems to produce new experiences. The Dunlop Gallery, at the Architecture and Design School, Victoria University Wellington, hosted the caravan and its occupation by the artist for a 3 week stay.
The bicycle powered teardrop caravan was designed and built from scratch at home with minimal tools (a jigsaw and a drill), using the kitchen table as a saw bench, and working to a number of constraints, one of those being able to go through a domestic doorway.
Caravan is a hybrid object, at once a sculptural prop and locus for performance, a self-contained camper, human powered and off-grid, a symbol for alternative visions and counter narratives.
A journey through the making and past iterations of Caravan:
Caravan - Stay: A three week exhibition, where the artist lived and slept in the Caravan in the Dunlop Gallery of the Victoria University Architecture and Design School, Wellington.
7 Nights: The micro-retreat. A small number of fellow Wellingtonians were invited for a one night stay each in the tiny caravan in the artist’s backyard as part of a micro-retreat operating in the city.
Caravan - Return and Repeat: A 3 night, 4 day freedom camping tour with the tiny bicycle pulled caravan on the Wellington Waterfront (New Zealand) as part of the Performance Arcade 2018.
Caravan - Make: The making of the caravan, at home, independent of mansplaining or male advice in the domestic sphere with limited tools (a jigsaw and drill). The caravan is designed to fit through the standard domestic doorway.
Last night the quietness was startling. Sure there was bass from a night club somewhere. I drew up a bit of energy and did the obligatory social media posts. street was very quiet - much quieter than I thought it would be. I am writing this the second night into the stay. Much busier tonight. A hand in at the school. Lots of students dropping off their work - flurries of activity. I feel cocooned up here. Strange to be so visible but not to actually care. People notice me up here - but I don’t feel their gaze as being obtrusive. They are not being held to ransom in seats in a theatre. They are busy on the way somewhere. They are curious and benign.