Tower writing desk

A permanent furniture installation in the tower at the Wedding Cake House by the Dirt Palace.

Ruffles, Repair & Ritual: the Fine Art of Fixing celebrates the extensive renovation of the Wedding Cake House into a cultural facility that will support an Artist in Residence program and expansion of the Dirt Palace, a feminist art space going strong in Providence since 2000.  This inaugural exhibition, opening on May 18, 2019, mounts 150 artist works to honor the 150th anniversary of the house being built.

Dirt Palace Wedding Cake House

The Tower in the Cake House consists of four small floors, climbing higher than any of the houses in the neighborhood with views in all directions. A writing desk and chair were proposed on the third floor for artists and writers-in-residence. Due to the overall dimensions of the room being so small, the furniture had to be moveable and “put away” when not in use. The oblique unfolding of the desk allows for a longer working surface and creates a moment of peripheral views towards sunrise and sunset. The material fabrication alludes to one planar surface folding to create structure with a continuous wood grain. The chair folds in the same manner as any folding chair, and can be placed anywhere in the room. The location for where it hangs is dependent on the whole composition. Remaining attached, whether open or closed, it is as though a two-dimensional composition unfolds from the wall to reveal a three-dimensional place to write.

Providence, RI

2019