To Inhabit, To Build, To Die. A Visual Essay

Abstract

This visual essay explores the boundaries between a woman and her house as they approach the culmination of over seven decades together, navigating through her impending death. From an exhaustive photographic record and the familiarity that comes from having lived in the place for several years, I aim to depict the adaptative process between both entities during this final period, markedly defined by the woman’s deterioration and illness. Accordingly, a selection of contemporary photographs of different rooms and objects within the house is juxtaposed with a narration detailing some of the most significant moments in the woman´s history and that of her house. The results show the reconfiguration of boundaries between the house and the woman, reflecting the decrease in physical and cognitive capacities intrinsic to ageing. Simultaneously, it unveils how the woman´s retreat from the home (or vice versa) introduces a cadre of new human and non-human agents, negotiating new accommodations.

Keywords:

• Homemaking
• accommodation
• agency
• extended self
• death

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tomás Errázuriz

Tomás Errázuriz is full professor at Campus Creativo at Universidad Andres Bello and a researcher at Centro de Investigación Urbana para el Desarrollo, el Hábitat y la descentralización (CIUDHAD). With a background in history, architecture, and urban studies, his research is situated in the intersections of material culture and everyday life, with a special focus on the mutant lives of things and places. He is co-founder and director of the collective «Cosas Maravillosas» [Wonderful Things]. Some of his recent publications include “The countless lives of newspapers and the right to repurpose” (Design and Culture, 2021), “The bright side of Coronavirus. Reinventing home from quarantine”, (entanglements, 2020), “Everything in place: Peace and harmony in an overcrowded home” (Visual Communication, 2019). [email protected]