Ex-Slade sculptors Faith Edwards and JT Lowen run the Quare Art Project. Wanting control of space in which they can work with their peers, they created a gallery in Edwards’ Spitalfields ground floor flat. Built in 1723, the building was originally a workhome for a silk dealer and in the C19 it was a dairy. It was taken over by Newlon Housing Trust as social housing in 1989. Taking advantage of the potential of both the central location and the space, Edwards and Lowen have run 13 shows since 2009. A film by Rebecca Birch, ‘The Year-Going’, was the most recent show [23 Sept - 2 October 2011].

In order to transform the small flat into a gallery, all traces of domestic habitation are erased. Edwards’ furniture and possessions are packed away into the bathroom, the wall mounted TV is removed, pictures and mirrors are taken down. Edwards goes to stay with Lowen for the duration of the show. The transformation is documented int he Workhome Project's Precedent database entry for Quare.

This workhome presents a new type, one that does not fit into existing Workhome Project typologies. Neither ‘live-with’, ‘live-adjacent’ nor ‘live-nearby’, this might be considered as an ‘either-or’ category. The spaces are used entirely, but serially, as entirely dwelling or entirely workplace, either-or…