Small Living

03/22/10

So, earlier I mentioned some living-arrangement changes that have been keeping me from the studio. Well, I have moved into a trailer! For some time I have wanted to lead a trampier life. Practically speaking, I want to understand very intimately what “living” costs in terms of energy—to feel the expense of lumber, heating systems, and dishwashing. On an ideological level, I want to face my own romanticism and live out the contradictions of idealism. The trailer is about 14 feet long by 8 feet wide, and we’ve been living there now for a couple of weeks. As usual, I have taken on my space as a kind of project, and have slowly been transforming it while being forced, by self-imposed circumstance, to question what living “simply” means. What are necessities, what are luxuries, and where do they overlap? I think if you had asked me that question when I was studying interior design at Ryerson, I would have answered very differently than I would now, and I hope by the end of this year my answer will be different yet.