4 minute read
The House of Dreams - CUB LONDON
The House of Dreams
Have you ever wanted to create a new world for yourself? A way to escape the ever-growing scary reality of the outside world and instead create something so mad it usually only exists in dreams? Well, that’s exactly what artist Stephen Wright has done to his own house...
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Ella Duggan
stephenwrightart.com
In 1998, artist Stephen Wright began the journey of turning his home in East Dulwich into ‘The House of Dreams’. Leading up to the creation of the museum Wright had become disillusioned with the design world to which he once belonged and instead began a fascination with outsider art that shaped the rest of his career. Outsider art refers usually to the art practices of untrained artists. Although Wright himself trained at Liverpool Polytechnic he says on his website,‘ I am influenced by the spirit and freedom of outsider art’, as clearly seen in the beautiful chaos of his house.The museum is made up of five spaces including the garden,
with more spaces soon to open. Each room is coated from floor to ceiling, with every surface featuring something more abstract than the last. Some notable pieces include; The Dented Faced Doll, Teeth Moulds and Glasses, Siamese Twins, Ponytail and many more. The spaces are made up of self-made sculptures and mostly what Wright refers to as ‘found objects’, often coming from Mexico, Haiti, France and India. Some of these objects include any gifts left behind by the visitors of the museum, which the curator is always welcome to accept as it is his curiosity behind the meanings and stories of such objects that appears to spark the joys of this exhibit.
stephenwrightart.com
Much of the house is inspired by Wright’s travels and artistic influences that come from abroad. In particular, Mexican culture and outsider art seem to play a large role in Wright’s vision. This can be seen throughout; a section entitled Mexico features two little doll heads and a plastic Virgin Mary water bottle, both of which Wright collected himself at markets in Oaxaca and Mexico City. The garden also reminds me of the internet famous The Island of Dolls near Mexico City due to the vast amount of slightly unnerving strung up dolls that decorate the walls, so take this as a warning to those who find movies like Annabelle particularly nightmare inducing.
Amongst the madness and dreamy nature of all the colours and faces in the house are also some very touching moments of reflection, courtesy of the artist’s own memory boards which recall important events from Wright’s life. One I found particularly heartbreaking is entitled The Final Moments of Donald Jones. Jones was the partner of Wright at the time when the House of Dreams was born. The piece consists of a handwritten ‘memory board’ detailing the final moments of Donald Jones’s life, as well as within half an hour of his passing.
It is this combination of dreamlike playfulness and weirdness with the emotional reality of life that makes The House of Dreams a truly thought-provoking attraction. Although Wright has referred to it in an interview with ITV News as a ‘Diary of my life’, I believe audiences are able to get out of it what they give to it, with their own life experiences altering how they view the space, much like how we view our dreams.
The museum, being that it is still actually Stephen Wright’s functioning home, is only open on select dates. You can book for those dates on The House of Dreams website and thankfully they offer student tickets, so you can enjoy the wonderful madness of outsider art dreams for a mere £7.
