That silent, invisible, porcelain monument, Glossy and sculpted and made in our curious form. Shaped to fit its one particular function. Closeted away behind its own door, it exists on a social divide, on its own turf unlike anything else in the world. From across the room, it is furniture, necessary and ungainly. But from upon, the dynamic changes. Its awkward and humorous surface is broken, its urgent service availed, and what is revealed!?


Welcome to the blog of Sitters. The project is a study through portraiture of the most unifying of all themes human, the toilet. This project is all about revealing the hidden. There could scarcely be a ritual so ancient or emblem of civilisation so indelible, that is less acknowledged. Its function is the function of the human body, an age old marriage.

Yet it is difficult to visualise. We can hardly recall the where and when of our life's visitations let alone the events that surround them (except for the unspeakably extreme). For something so common, so universal, it is unmatched in its unfamiliarity. It is private, closed and altogether invisible. The aim of Sitters is to show the toilet and its inevitable role as who we are. The project flushes out the taboo and restraint that surrounds the subject and plumbs the small entitlements we take for granted. That's all the toilet jokes i promise.























Friday, 21 January 2011

Location location location



First things first. I need toilets. The only question is "whose?"

Since they all invariably belong to someone, it is who i know and who will allow me to use them. The most obvious are the +30 public toilets in Edinburgh city. In one phone call yesterday i was granted conditional use for all of them (the condition being that they need to be closed to the public, which means some P.M photo action at closing time.) That is instantly 30 toilets, the whole project! So today i took to the streets and hit as many up as i could for research. Taking photos of anything in a public toilet is very hard to disguise with a simple cough and a swift look to the ceiling. I am notoriously shy in these circumstances too so there was a a few drawn out hand washes at the sinks or a number of  extra precautionary hand drying. In one case a guy appeared so abruptly when i was holding a spring-hinged cubicle door open that there was nothing else i could transform it into, except pretending to be testing all the doors for my favourite. I think he relaxed when i found one i liked way down the end and disappeared inside, camera still flapping on the strap, and waited for him to leave.

But why not use just the public toilets? Because they aren't interesting. Sure they cover the spectrum between incredibly polished and squalor, but they are functional and without love. No framed quotes, no reading material, not a vase of pot pourri in sight. Can you imagine!?

So i followed up some tips. My trail took me to the Hollyrood Architectural Salvage near Duddingston (thanks Abbie!). What an amazing place. Full to the dilapidated rafters with gorgeous, dilapidated furniture. Piles of salvaged toilets, and i like the idea of being surrounded with other broken and unused toilets so i may pursue the refurbished/scrap idea further. Any suggestions, drop them in the comments.

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