Drawing Matter
Sheds – Palaces of Nothing

What is a shed? A shed is a house behind the other house, at the back of the garden. It is a secondary house, but it is dear and it is where the secrets live. A shed is performed by its secrets. It is defined by the way it is used rather than what it is. A shed is for nothing and for everything. It is full of possibilities – it is for anything. It relies on potential, not actual. It can house anything and that is its beauty, the undefined pragmatism, the openness and the possibilities that come with them. It is not grand; it is subtle. It is the palace of nothing, and we all have one.

Drawing Matter is grounded in a collection of architectural drawings. The collection is kept in a cabinet and for the event this cabinet is opened for an inquiry, exploration and adventure with two architects, Alexander Brodsky of Moscow and Robert Mull of London; on a theme that embraces the fundamental questions of a house and a space, their uses, forms and possibilities. Sheds are similarly open ended than the inquiry that could take place within the cabinet, an inquiry where the cabinet becomes an incubator and the collection a third party in the discussion. The results of this discussion will be presented as an exhibition and a discussion at The Maltings, Hauser & Wirth Somerset.

‘Drawing Matter: Sheds – Palaces of Nothing’ is proposed by Niall Hobhouse and Markus Lähteenmäki and facilitated by Hauser & Wirth Somerset. The exhibition will be born a week before it is publicly presented, during an intense two-day dialogue between Alexander Brodsky, Robert Mull and the Drawing Matter collection. The presentation will take place on Sunday 9th October and the exhibition will remain open for the following week.

This exhibition follows some of the crossing paths of Drawing Matter and Hauser & Wirth Somerset. In March 2015, Hauser & Wirth Somerset launched an Architecture Season, which included ‘LAND MARKS: Structures for a Poetic Universe’ an exhibition of architectural studies and models from the Drawing Matter collection curated by Nicholas Olsberg and Markus Lähteenmäki, this marked the beginning of their relationship with Drawing Matter.

The Architecture Season also included The Shed Project, a competition for young architects to redesign an outbuilding for The Maltings. The winning entry The Garden Rooms, by Casswell Bank Architects (Alex Bank and Sam Casswell) and Tom Graham, was completed in June and sits alongside The Maltings, and now it will be woven into the exhibition of sheds proposed by Drawing Matter.