'Tanks and Tablecloths' is an ongoing collaborative research project between artists Elizabeth Haven and Lizzie Ridout, identifying common themes between the military and the domestic.
Both the military and the domestic world can be defined by a desire for control. The obsessive tidying of the housewife can be equated to the pedantic spit and polish of the Sergeant Major. The Sergeant Major deploys endless chores to pacify the ranks. The housewife fights a constant, circuitous battle against the accumulation of dust and dirt, which quietly threatens to overrun the home and destroy it, just as ivy creeps into the cracks of pillboxes and rust eats into the hulls of obsolete submarines.
The passing of time and the attempts of the soldier and the housewife to halt its advances are an important constant in our research; for example, the use of mementoes to vividly reinforce the mental picture of a loved one away at war, or waiting at home. The housewife looks outwards towards the horizon - dreaming of other worlds. The soldier looks backwards - towards home, something familiar and simply defined.
Part of the project is to work with memories and archive material supplied from contributions. If you would like to discuss the project with us, or have any material you would like to submit, then please contact us.
