House Moves EOI

Posted on by Tom Isaacs
Steve McQueen, Deadpan, 1997. Film still.

INTRO

Hi there,

As you may already be aware, I currently have the luxury of a beautiful (and spacious) studio space at Westward Cottage courtesy of the City of Ryde. One of my goals during this residency period (Oct 2025 – Oct 2026) is to take advantage of this space by hosting a variety of different artistic events.

So far, Westward Cottage has hosted:

  • a video art night (organised with Cinzia Cremona);
  • a poetry night (organised with Jeremiah Gooseberrye);
  • and a textile workshop (part of my workshop series, How It Feels).

One of the things I’d like to do next is to host a performance art event…

HOUSE MOVES

The current working title for the performance art event is ‘House Moves’, riffing on the relocation of the Cottage in 1993 (see below) as well as the movement of bodies in performance art. For this event, I’m particularly interested in bringing together performances that respond to some aspect of the site, such as:

  • the history of the building
  • its construction;
  • the architecture;
  • the location of the building;
  • the relocation of the building;
  • its present use as an artists studio.

SPACE TO MOVE

Westward Cottage is,

“a nineteenth-century single-storey cottage built in brick with a sandstone facade and footings. The building is of a type usually described as a ‘workman’s cottage’ and is significant as the only surviving domestic example of the earliest phase of urbanization in Ryde. […] Plans for the construction of the Devlin Street underpass threatened the cottage with demolition in 1989. Ryde Council chose instead to dismantle Westward and relocate it a little further along Turner Street, reconstructed in 1993 as an 1850s cottage.”

(source)

At the site there are a number of spaces we can activate:

  • Verandah out the front
  • Two rooms upstairs
  • Balcony upstairs
  • Two rooms downstairs
  • Grounds around the building
  • Westward Cottage
  • Front porch
  • Upstairs front room 1/2
  • Upstairs front room 2/2
  • Upstairs back room 1/2
  • Upstairs back room 2/2
  • Balcony out the back
  • Downstairs back room 1/2
  • Downstairs back room 2/2
  • Downstairs front room

These photos are slightly misleading as they were taken before I moved all my stuff into the studio, but hopefully they give you a rough idea of what’s possible.

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

If you’re interested in participating please send the following information to tomisaacsart@gmail.com by 11:59am on Sunday 28th June:

  • A short description of your idea in whatever format works best for you (text, audio, video, etc).
  • Short bio and/or CV
  • Some images/video of your work
  • Link(s) to your website and/or socials

In your application, I recommend that you aim to communicate clearly what you want to do and why. You do not need to use dense art speak.

Deadline for applications is 11:59am on Sunday 28th June.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.