The Home That Never Was
by Khanjana Mistry

National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, India
Graduation year: 2022

portfolio special mention call 'BLURRING THE LINES 2022', 2022

About 10,000 years ago humans first started living permanently in a particular place, thus paving the way for modern day housing. The ideas of permanence, belonging and construction among others began emerging as human civilization progressed. Eventually, with various societal systems in place all over the world emerged the notions of value, property and ownership and attached themselves to the idea of home. It is fascinating to see that this amalgamation mutated itself to a thriving industry and what complications this industry’s downfall can bring about. The city of Mumbai in India is notorious for builders who abandon housing projects midway, stating lack of funds, red tapism or similar excuses, leaving the stakeholders distraught and empty of their lifetime savings. With this project I intend to use these half constructed housing complexes as stages for intervention. This project is not just about buildings that were abandoned midway through their construction, it is instead a response to the ideas of value, property and ownership that emerge as a result of the abandonment of these buildings. I intend to create a dialogue between the space and the interventions I make within its confines. Working with the concepts of de-familiarisation and estrangement I have tried to make found-object sculptures where in I have placed the materials I have found in places they do not really belong to create something that only resembles the thing that it draws structural inspiration from. Thus in reality, the sculptures are only made to look like their actual useful counterparts but are useless when put to use. The found-object sculptures I have created for this project exist only for the camera and are thus dismantled immediately after being photographed, for their purpose is to represent several temporary attempts fantasizing about and clinging onto the idea of a home.


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