Sophie Standford
About
A Rural Idyll
In the Forest Garden
Inner Landscapes
Absent Presence
Trace
On paper
In sound

 @hortus_silvam
Trace

Transience




16mm colour film 
stereo sound
1998
edit to HD video, 2025
16mm camera: Jesse Chambers
Residence: 10 days
Location: 35 Beulah Hill, London
Resident for 10 days in this empty Victorian house awaiting development at the Spa not far from the site of the Crystal Palace in London. The artist ensnared by a blindfolded, and a crinoline-structured costume creating hindered, blundering movements as she roamed from room to room, trying to remember the layout. With sight denied, she submitted to a heightened awareness of sound which guided her movements. Audio recordings of her presence captured her presence and absence from the empty rooms. 


the garden is a wilderness reminiscent
sweet smelling fruits and flowers
vast, empty, fin de siècle rooms, echoing
windows stretching to the ceiling
architectural details drably adapted to
the demands of modern living
thick dust, thick spider webs clinging to disuse
vast regal stairwell, climbing
numbered doors in the upper rooms
light penetrating the dark interior
distinct servant quarters listening behind doors
breathlessly up three floors to the roof
an audible voice, listening
© Sophie Standford, 2025
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