Metro Thursday January 19th 2006
**** 4 stars (out 0f 5)
These days many of us probably don’t have the time or inclination to respect our elders, and would rather they didn’t waste our precious time talking about their grandchildren and reminiscing about when everything was all fields. Jeanie Finlay’s Home-maker, then, is something of a miracle, actually making pensioners seem interesting.
The result of two residencies in South Derbyshire and Tokyo – during which time she filmed and interviewed house bound pensioners – it’s an installation that recreates two living rooms typical of septugenerian tastes in England and japan. Projected on to the wall is an interactive screen showing 360 degree views of the subjects’ living rooms (which you navigate using a mouse), with the English lounge all tasteless china and lacework, while the Japanese abode has everything at knee height and requires the viewer to exchange their shoes for a pair of slippers on entry. You can even click on certain objects within the rooms, upon which the residents will divulge intriguing and personal stories about their lives.
The whole experience is extremely absorbing and reminds you just how fascinating seemingly ordinary lives can be – like reality TV but without feeling as if you want to punch the people you’re watching.