‘’Let us therefore compare the system of the unconscious to a large entrance hall, in which the mental impulses jostle one another like separate individuals. Adjoining this entrance hall there is a second, narrower, room – a kind of drawing room – in which consciousness too, resides. But on the threshold between these two rooms a watchman performs his function’’
(Freud 1917 – comparison between real space and the spaces of the mind)
The concept of space generates ontological canvas, where abstraction of gravitation and dimension between space of the mind and the physical can be encountered by the body. The boundary between the mind with a non-material value and the physical as a material value, questions the nature of their properties to be detachable. The stimulation of being in a physical space generates the possibility of interconnects, where the mind’s function stimulates connection through relations between thoughts, memories and purpose. The physical and material surrounding becomes a moving matter in space. If all the matter would be removed from the world, nothing would remain – no minds, no illusions, no realities. The mind allows us to understand materialism through personal experiences and observations, allowing us to widen our understanding of fundamental traits of space. These can vary between ‘safe’ space, a ‘transitional’ space or a ‘relational’ space.
The domestic sphere teaches us that every house is different, and therefore every house will offer different experiences, communicate different languages and will always occupy different places. Home carries conditions of social and cultural understanding, which raises uniqueness and exclusivity through ethnic and national diversity. Reading structural and decorative surrounding of home, gives a viewer a tour around our psychic cachets. Personification of domestic interiors, becomes a neutralized canvas for an individual to express their sense of security, sentiment to their experiences and aesthetic taste. It’s a method of communicating a social belonging, which we initially demonstrate through the choice of location.
According to Carl Jung ‘’People live from their affects and have their being in emotion. Their consciousness takes care of their orientation in space and transmits impressions from outside, which are also stirred by inner impulses’’ (Jung, p. 270, 1967). Home becomes a performance of our social standing. The exterior becomes a living façade, where windows become the eyes inviting to discover the inner spheres, and where doors become a mouth welcoming us at the entrance steps. The self-consciousness of these decisions drives the self-expression of social identity we aspire to convey and communicate.
The notion of modern house particularly challenges the traditional representation of home structure, raising many questions around the idea of ownership, refurbishments and constant need to update and change. Suddenly, house becomes a neutralized figure, a skeleton, ready to be taken under the wings of an individual. The play setting within adulthood raises different rules, as the contemporary approach generates visual expectations and trends. ‘’ Transformations in the design of houses also came about in response to changed patterns of urban lifestyle, employment, expectations of leisure, privacy, respectability, community, security and the projection of social status’’ (Chapman, Hockey, p. 1- 4, 1999). The process of individual mapping can becomes disturbed, threatening the self-expression processes and creativity through standardization and homogenization. The marketing persuading procedures engage people to buy into prescribed images of ideal homes, limiting the concept of crafting personal environment. This aesthetic call to fit into a social sphere is driven by ego, wanting to communicate and speak the perspective of how we should be and how we want to be seen by others. This perception becomes more complex, creating conflict between the inner and outer space. The way we imagine our ideal home, is different to the way the home is actually lived. The social structures attempt to project the way that home should be developed, so that people can live their ideal lives.
Continuously, defining externally, questions the internal sphere. As different individuals we can often distinguish our boundaries between being introvert and extrovert. The domestic space can either become an exhibition of personal display or a sealed away representation of presence. Some people are drawn towards minimalistic style, where the surrounding is clear of any belongings, where everything is hidden away. As a viewer we are exposed to empty surfaces, reflecting the introvert state of personality, generating hidden identity. This differs from extrovert angle, where we generate enthusiasm and curiosity around sensational object hood. We become drawn to details, colours and shapes in various figures, paintings, souvenirs or books. We want to come closer, to engage and question the owner about the story behind it. These contrasting examples, carry the instant fight between past and present which reflects upon our choices. Décor of domestic environment becomes a dialogue between ourselves and individuals who interfere within our domestic surrounding.
Domestic spaces also induce visual representation of geometry generating our perspectives around thingness. Each corner introduces us to a different experience and function. According to Bachelard, ‘’the corner is a sort of half-box, part walls, part door. It will serve as an illustration for the dialectics of inside and outside’’. Corners found within the domestic surrounding can be considered to carry duality in their meaning of life. A corner becomes the ‘chamber of being’, an inhabited geometry (Bachelard, G, 1964, pp.137-138). Often when we want to mark our personal territory, we define it by ‘seeking a corner’, being able to close ourselves in ‘four walls’. This geometrically driven phrase generates closer look at the intimacy bubble we seek to place ourselves in.
When considering the house as a monumental structure; we naturally inhibit different spatial spheres which fulfil diverse purposes; separating the public and private boundaries. These physical spaces often generate various sub-divisions where we section our world between open and closed, intimate and communal. The windows convert into protective walls, which trigger us with the outside noise of the streets. The float of the house can evoke different sensations varied between; evening stillness, vigorous space and intimate spheres. The gravitation and dimension between the rooms and occupation period, introduces us with different experiences, teaching us how to engage with a space. Suddenly, the walls like a sponge, absorb the energetic dynamisms of our relational experiences, reflecting back to us what we nourish them with.
Bibliography
Chapman, T., Hockey, J. (1999). Ideal Homes? Social Change and Domestic Life. London: Routledge
Jung C, J., (1967), Memories, Dreams, Reflections, Fontana Press an Imprint of Harpercollins Publishers
Bachelard, G., (1964), The Poetics of Space, Canada: Beacon Press Boston
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