Homeworld 1994-2005

Display homes, Kellyville, Western Sydney

Black and white digital pigment ink prints on cotton rag Inova paper, and pure carbon inks on Arches Aquarelle paper. Prints made from scanned medium format black and white film (6 x 7cm, 6 x 9cm). 

Homeworld was a large exhibition village of project homes in different styles, that could be purchased and constructed on one of the nearby blocks of cleared land for sale. Built from the mid 1980’s, by the early 1990s Homeworld consisted of over 120 fully decorated display homes, suitable for a range of budgets, erected by some 35 project-home building companies. It was a popular and busy place for new home buyers and the curious to visit on weekends. It was very quiet there during the week. Homeworld still exists and has been revitalized.

At that time, in the mid 1990’s, I was curious to see how the new-style, large, open-plan homes, carefully outfitted by decorators, were fashioned to appeal to prospective buyers. Who were the buyers being appealed to?

Initially, my attention was drawn to kitchens, how they were presented to those who would work in them. Many of the kitchens had a large window over the sink which looked onto part of a yard and fence. Turning 180 degrees, the same open kitchen could surveil the large open-plan living and dining rooms created by the elimination of interior dividing walls. Outside wall areas had also diminished and replaced by large windows, ensuring that Homeworld visitors experienced large, light-filled houses. However, these bright white rooms with their uncovered windows lacked privacy, also admitting heat and cold. Curtains, blinds and air conditioning would therefore become essential, and an added expense.

I also photographed rooms and areas that had pictures on the walls alongside other ‘art’ objects. I was curious about the selection of ‘art’ pieces on display. Prints of Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli paintings (cropped sections) were mixed with framed, palely coloured prints and ‘art’ objects of unknown sources.

The bright, sun-lit rooms with their white and light-coloured furniture, walls, carpets, ceilings and drapery, enabled me to handhold my camera for most photographs.