18 Folgate Street, Dennis Severs House and its Little Instruments

“The late 20th century may be a fascinating place, but surely … nobody would ever want to live in it?” Dennis Severs

Aut Visum Aut Non!: ‘You either see it or you don’t’.

 

Last Monday after leaving Angela Flanders boutique on Artillery Row, I hopped over to Dennis Severs House at 18 Folgate Street. I really knew very little about the house going into the experience so I was really unsure of just what to expect. The motto of the house is “you either see it or you don’t”, and I left 18 Folgate Street feeling as if I had had an experience quite unlike any other I had before.

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“From where you stand in Folgate Street you hear a door being unlocked from inside.  As it opens you should remind yourself of the four dimensions.  The first dimension is back and forth – the second is up and down; both like the door itself – are flat.  The third dimension is not flat, but comes forward and goes back to constitute a space between.  Within it life happens.  The door is opened, but now you hesitate.  The third dimension before you contains something more than space; as thick as treacle – it hosts a foreign fourth.  And the fourth dimension, dear reader is time.” Dennis Severs

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