We went to an ArtHouse Jersey exhibition titled ‘No Place Like Home’ – “An ambitious multi-disciplinary exhibition featuring the work of acclaimed UK, international and Jersey-based artists that explores the concept of ‘home’ in the 21st century.” It was advertised with the placement of a Dissent Module at the Radome site in Les Platons, a piece created by Rachel Ara that was soon moved to the St Helier Town Churchyard just outside where the exhibition was held.

Upon entering the exhibition, we were greeted by a large sign of a house among various objects and Jersey landmarks, reading “HOME IS NOT A PLACE” – immediately launching us into thinking about concepts of home and community. Behind this was some more cardboard cutouts and a large mural of various pieces of furniture mixed with the previously mentioned Jersey landmarks, such as the towers that are scattered about the south coast of the island. This piece appears AI generated, given the way that things blend and merge together like in Will Lakeman’s exhibition surrounding his memories of Fort Regent recreated by AI.

Various art pieces and trinkets that wouldn’t look out of place in a household were spread out and organised around the first part of the room, some hanging from the ceiling, sat on bedside tables, and some hanging on the walls. Each set of objects had their own sense of belonging and personal attachment to them, whether it was something I’d recognised from my parents house, someone else’s house, or just something I’d noticed at some point in my life – nevertheless, there was still some almost nostalgic feeling I took from this part of the room.

The next thing we saw in the exhibition was this small, old-fashioned TV, playing a strange video of a woman in a kitchen, naming every object she picked up before hitting it against something, or using it to make a noise. It was an oddly nostalgic video that reminded me of commercials that I saw on the TV as a child, which I think was only enhanced by the medium of such an old TV, as my family still had something similar in the late 2000’s that I remember sitting in front of most nights.

The next section of the room reminded me of a modern house, with shelving shaped in strong, cubic forms, covered in various abstract artworks. Among them were prints of plants, old portrait photographs, and drawings of various shapes and objects, most notably the large piece that almost looks like a window with a flower-like design on each pane in the corner of the room. With the fake plants and couches placed around this area, it felt quite homely, in particular the chair displayed in the image reminded me of a chair that I used to sit on at my parents’ house when I was young.

On the other side of the room, I noticed a small scrapbook filled with small sketches and art pieces sat on a shelf, with a QR code nearby that lead to an interview of British artist Peter Liversidge. I felt quite an attachment to the book, which I think links back to the sketchbooks I had throughout primary secondary school studying art.

On the other side of the room, there was two tables, both being art pieces featuring images of buildings. On the first table, there were chunks of stone with a flat side, covered in images of various generic buildings. It almost acted as if these were chunks taken from the buildings and the images on them were just vague enough to create a link with a viewer’s own memories of similar buildings. Personally, this reminds me of the large granite Gaspe House buildings near the coast in St Helier, toward the beginning of Victoria Avenue. Although I have no personal link or association to this place, it triggered a memory of them that brings me back to this familiar place. On the second table, these images of buildings were plastered onto these 3D shapes that seem assembled like some sort of puzzle. I think they have quite a crystalline shape, which made me think more about the material these actual buildings were made of, and the crystals inside of stones that I saw when playing with and breaking apart rocks when I was younger.

At the back of the exhibition, a large tapestry of a small canyon in what I presume to be a desert was hung from the wall. I felt extremely connected to this piece, as it brought back memories of my summers in Spain with my Grandfather, where I’d explore the mountains in the surrounding area, and I remember going down to a large creek with one of my friends that I’d met down there, jumping off of large rocks into the water and camping in a place similar to this.

This final part of the exhibit was much like the first, featuring cardboard cutouts of various objects and some old-fashion furniture, but this one felt different; it reminded me of memories I had at some of my older family members houses in the UK, and partly my Grandmother’s house before it was redecorated.

Overall, I found this exhibit very interesting, and even now, taking the time to reflect and write about it I find myself thinking about my childhood and what I would consider my home and what’s important to me.