Jan McCullough's series 'Home Instruction Manual' was selected from our call for entries for our upcoming Annual on 'Women'.
Home Instruction Manual’ (2014- 2015)
Jan McCullough explores the construction of identity through a series of collected ‘instructions’ or ‘truths’ about home, through the use of google, as explained here.
Traditionally, instruction manuals have been the perfect source for practical solutions. Experts in specific subjects provide written authority on how to repair faults and carry out tasks from scratch.
I typed ‘how to make a home’ into Google, and was directed to an online chat forum in which self-described experts were exchanging detailed instructions. I rented an ordinary suburban house and carried out the strangers advice exactly over the period of two months. In complying with the instructions for making the perfect home, I contemplated the construction of an identity from scratch. The following photographs document the end result of my time living and working in the house, trying on different lives for size.
More of Jan McCullough’s work can be seen here.
