Heidi Holmes

Structures and Systems

2021

Dimensional lumber, bathroom dimensions, goat milk soap, electrical cord, male electrical plugs, acetate, zinc oxide, cod liver oil, horse hair, artist’s hair, found hair, graphite, adhesive, faux ice cube, Nitrile gloves, the amount of blood from the artist’s last menstrual cycle, water, mirror, spackling, eggshell coloured paint, room temperature objective of 26°C.

MFA Studio, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver, Canada

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About:

This installation is anchored by a structure that reflects the dimensions of a domestic toilet room and its entryway. The structure is built to standard construction dimensions and has been coated with goat milk soap. It fills every crevice of the wood structure.

Every electrical socket in the space has been connected by electrical cords connecting the outlets, appearing to cycle the active current from receiver to receiver, in turn suggesting a dangerous circuit of the building plugging itself.

The water-filled gloves hold the same amount of blood from my last menstrual cycle. The gloves and the faux ice cube, which has been slipped into an architectural feature of the gallery space are located where the toilet would be located in a domestic toilet room.

Before the installation of this work, the walls of the gallery space were closely analyzed and every hair embedded into the painted surface of the gallery walls was marked. Later, the hairs were highlighted with smoky charcoal, drawing attention to the traces of bodies previously existing in the space.

Although the gallery space was located in a large building, the space had its own temperature thermometer. During the exhibition, this mechanism was set to 26 degrees. This is 4 degrees above the average room temperature preference in Canada and reflects the 4 degrees the body temperature rises during a hot flush.