Sophie Standford

The Unearthings
A Rural Idyll
In the Forest Garden
Inner Landscapes
Absent Presence
Trace
Photomontage
Performative Drawing
Act of Listening
About

@hortus_silvam

Trace Selected Works

Transience


1998
performance work in residence
16mm colour film | sound | writing
camera: Jesse Chambers

Resident for 10 days at 35 Beulah Hill, London, an empty Victorian house awaiting development at the Spa not far from the site of the Crystal Palace in London. 
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

The artist ensnared, blindfolded and a crinoline-structured costume forcing hindered, blundering movements as she roams 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 captured her presence and absence from the empty rooms. 

© Sophie Standford, 2026 
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