The alarm clock located on the bedside table aids movement for the working day. The faint ringing of the doorbell finds complement with the telephone, which often only had one location, the table in the hallway. Who is going to answer the phone call when it rings, who is going to open the front door? Who is going to turn off the alarm clock?

This sound piece is inspired by Lal Hitchcock’s 1984 etching 'Job Sharing' and Mierle Laderman Ukeles’ 1969 work 'The Maintenance Manifesto'. Ukeles' manifesto presents the artist’s life as a series of domestic maintenance tasks that become her art practice:

"I am an artist, I am a woman, I am a wife, I am a mother.
After a revolution, who is going to pick up the rubbish?
Show your work, show it again. Keep the contemporary museum groovy. Keep the home fires burning. 
Clean your desk, wash the dishes, clean the floor, wash your clothes, wash your toes, change the nappies.
Fix the fence, keep the customer happy, throw away the rubbish.  Cook, invite people to eat, clean up, put away, change light bulbs.
What shall I wear, where are my socks, can I please have a drink… pay your bill, don’t litter, wash your hair, I’m out of perfume … say it again, he doesn’t understand".

'Keep the Home Fires Burning' is an 11-minute audio piece featuring sounds generated by the objects in Hitchcock's etching, along with several roles Ukeles describes in her manifesto. It also includes voices from women participating in the Women’s Line Project, Macclesfield. The work is currently exhibiting at The Silk Museum Gallery and Macclesfield Library.

Keep the Home Fires Burning

Soundscapes | Field Recording | Sound Art
Documenting sounds.

Keep the Home Fires Burning

Leanne Cunningham