In 19781 spent 12 months in the USA travelling on a fellowship with my artist partner. We stayed overnight in motels or for several months in sublets. Each time we arrived we felt compelled to customise our surroundings. Even for one night any pictures had to be removed from the walls or, if that was impossible, we would arrange drapes to cover them over. The lighting too would be customised and a range of knick-knacks that we were accumulating on our travels would be brought out and rearranged each time to make us feel we had arrived. After six months our first long sublet was on the border of Berkeley near the Bay Bridge. It was the first home of a couple of young artists. Straight away my partner set about conscientiously photographing the walls and thus enabled, we removed everything that was not going to be useful to us - immoveable heavy stone sculptures were wrapped up in sheets and bound with tape. A compulsion to clean took hold of me.
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