Charlie Stringer

Spaces Real Estate is an ongoing project based on a responsive business model that seeks to shift the political dynamics of the homeowner through the provocative act of the leasing spaces that aren’t mine. Spaces Real Estate aims to instigate conversations surrounding the housing market through performative scenarios that connect potential buyers/renters to the available spaces. Spaces Real Estate is a site of possibilities within the face of a space designated by ideologies. The conceptual gestures and aesthetics of the artwork act as subtle manifestations of this ideology turned back on itself as political commentary. From its inception as a site for ‘renting’ spaces, Spaces Real Estate has developed significantly. It now functions as a spurious company, following a business model vernacular, through the persona of ‘Office Administrator’ Suzie Parker, who manages the website, responding to inquiries from prospective clients, handling promotional events and scheduling upcoming events on behalf of the company.

Through these gestures, Spaces Real Estate aims to critique the domination of space by landlords motivated by capital gain. As a young woman who has been in rental situations throughout my entire life, I’ve never felt a sense of security or privacy within my own home. Renting buys you a room but one with transparent walls that is always subject to the desires of the landlord. This project is the beginning of what I believe is a very vital conversation about the fundamental right to housing that is under threat from neoliberal ideologies.