“21 Blackwood Park Road”
Geoff Newman
24 Mar → 8 Apr 2006

Geoff Newman presents 21 Blackwood Park Road, exploring the creation of contemporary personal empires in the form of houses and their associated structures.

Many of the houses in newly created estates, such as Koolamara Waters and Edgewater, come ‘fully optioned’ with luxury features such as fountains, columns and gates. Within these estates, each with its own brand new ‘natural’ waterway, each house appears to compete with its neighbour for prestige.

21 Blackwood Park Road, which brings a swimming pool to West Space, rendered unusable by its dimensions, suggests that in these estates it is not only brick that is veneer: a sense of community is presented, but not sustained. Despite striving for grandeur, these empires end at their front and back fences, stretching only far enough to claim the car in the driveway and the swimming pool in the backyard.