Common or Garden

A series of shed installations on 5 village greens around Epping Forest

Common or Garden was devised by Sofie Layton to explore the notion of common land in public spaces and how these areas are used. She chose to create her own shed installation on the village green at Theydon Bois which sits on the edge of Epping Forest, which was called “Bitter Sweet”.

The piece was created with pupils from the local primary school. The gingerbread figures were created from rolled terracotta clay in the same way one would prepare gingerbread biscuits. Individuals were asked to create important figures from their families. The shed was then decorated and transformed with these families of fired clay figures.

Inside the Ginger bread house the archetypal fairy tale themes of  loss, dysfunctional families, missed and missing children were explored. This exploration is portrayed through a sound scape of people’s voices and recordings interwoven with the Hansel and Gretel story. This was developed with sound artist Jules Maxwell.