URBAN HERMIT RETROSPECTIVE
The Hermit Retrospective is a work of revisionist historical fiction. It applies the historical device of the ornamental hermit in a contemporary context to confront the viewer with questions about our relationships with our environment and with each other.
The ornamental hermit, unlike its predecessor the religious hermit, was a short-lived fashionable oddity that became popular in 18th century England. An oxymoron in nature, the hermitage was an expression of the pursuit and idealization of the untamed natural world while being wholly and utterly manufactured. In a period, like our own, when the “wild,” “natural” world was idealized and the pursuit of a simple honest way of living (or the semblance of one) was common, the hermitage was designed to relieve the pressures of contemporary society. This practice seems absurd and outdated today, but by placing the hermit in familiar, local, existing locations we will be drawing parallels between these two periods. This exhibit considers our development since Georgian times, examining habitat, personhood, property, and privilege.