Home Phrases
2021

The project is informed by experiences of isolation through the last pandemic years. It explores the link between isolation and social connection, as well as the relationship between the human body and the spaces in which we live. Under the influence of this pandemic, I have been living alone for a long time. In this state, life experiences that were easily overlooked have been magnified.

Through the long period of staying at home, I have developed a use of spatial formats to build interpretations of the spaces we inhabit. “Home Phrases” focuses on narratives played out between co-habitants within a home space, trying to make a sense of playing and exploring, to confront these sad circumstances.


Inspired by phenomenology and semiology of lived experience in architectural places, I realised that there are far more profound meanings within the home space.

Dialogues between flatmates have been recorded, then made visual as comics, made physical as play blocks, and re-performed by the same flatmates. The illustrative components of comics, blocks and performances link and translate to each other.


中文释义见页尾 (Chinese version see the bottom)


Part4  A Floating Bedroom

“Do you feel bored if you stay in your bedroom for a long time?”

“Maybe, but sometimes I change the layout of my bedroom, which can give me a sense of freshness.”

“Sometimes, I imagine whether everything in my room will move after I fall asleep. My pillows, my scarves, my clothes…
I may not be sleeping alone.”







家的空间絮语

项目分为四个部分(四个故事),分别代表了家庭空间中不同的叙事,每个部分由三种不同的成分构成(按创作先后顺序):插图、木头玩具、行为表演视频。三者互译,彼此联系。

1.桌子的解决办法:桌子作为区分人不同行为活动的工具。

2.我养的植物,他们知道所有的事:植物作为家中不断生长的景观,他们目睹了一切。

3.窗,内与外的连结:窗户是居住空间的眼睛,连接了外部世界和内部空间,并使它们融为一体。

4.漂浮卧室:卧室是最私密的空间,它隐藏了所有的情绪。

每个部分的叙事都源自于疫情封锁期间我在伦敦的公寓里漫长的居家隔离生活。我记录下和室友的日常对话,再用不同的视觉语言呈现。这些对话折射出在居家生活期间的日常困惑,以及对家庭空间和空间里的物品的反思。

持续的居家生活促使我和当下的居住空间产生了更加亲密的联系。我既是目击者也是亲历者,感受着并发现着空间里的一些事物。受到建筑场所生活经验的现象学和符号学的启发,我意识到有更多深远的含义漂浮在家庭空间中的每一寸角落。

同住者之间的对话被记录,遂以漫画、玩具的形式呈现(玩具并非只有玩的属性,更是一种日常仪式的表达),并由相同的同住者重新演绎。画、玩具和行为表演三者互相联系,彼此互译。

这个项目是一个持续成长的项目,陆续会有更多不同视角的的关于家庭空间的作品产出。

©️ Zhenyi Zheng    ︎Index