Window Lashings

“The most irregular combinations. A world of secret affinities opens up within: palm tree and feather duster, hairdryer and Venus de Milo”
—­ ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Walter Benjamin

The second-hand shop window is a beacon of promise. The bric-a-brac items on display are suspended between value and non-value, lingering in a state of potential: will they be cherished and placed on the mantel, or are they destined for landfill or a return trip back to the op shop? Window Lashings brings together second-hand fragments of decoration and ornament sourced from sites of the everyday, op shops, old building facades, design manuals, and the online marketplace. Brought together in the found and handmade, they form a disorganised archive of domestic tastes and practices of the recent past. Void of context and authorship, these decorative accumulations contemplate the enduring lure of the decorative, where even a “faux vintage” plate from Vinnies can ignite stirrings of nostalgia.