House Proud: Lisa Kirk Reinterprets the Timeshare

Perhaps the most inelegant object lesson in America's thirst for luxury and escape is the timeshare vacation home. This quintessential "you get what you pay for" bargain is paved with good intentions in the form of a less-expensive holiday in a supposedly comfortable, homelike dwelling. Yet the stories one hears about them typically depict humanity at its least civilized. Timeshares are owned by many and claimed by none. Trussed up and turned out again and again by desperate brokers, timeshares are forever found in deplorable conditions, abandoned by previous tenants. Human nature, it seems, pushes otherwise gracious individuals to divorce themselves from the responsibility of ownership -- even at its most temporary.


American artist Lisa Kirk explores themes of commodity fetishism and audience participation in her work. Past projects include a perfume she created called REVOLUTION, which features top notes of tear gas and decaying flesh. Her latest project, maison des cartes, employs a critical sense of humor in considering the neglected timeshare. Maison des Cartes was originally created in an interior environment for "House of Cards," her solo show earlier this year at Invisible/Exports gallery on Orchard Street. In its current iteration, the piece has been transformed from an art installation to a rentable timeshare on a waterfront locale in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.



Kirk recently inaugurated the piece with a festive ribbon cutting ceremony. Made from 52 separate pieces of material, "the shanty," as the artist has nicknamed the Maison, recalls a dishabille squat, and includes an outdoor commode, security in the form of both a padlock and a combination lock, and a cheerful, disused kitchen. The structure is placed a few steps away from an abandoned airplane fuselage (property of a nearby prop house), which acts as both neighbor and aesthetic appendage. The shanty's home at the Brooklyn Navy Yard is, unfortunately, not permanent. Its placement was a hard-won victory. Says Kirk: "It took us a while to find the perfect place, and finally we ended up knowing someone who had this land." In a gesture that recalls the Fake Estates project of Gordon Matta-Clark -- from 1973-1974, the artist bought the property titles to tiny slots of gutter space from the city government -- Kirk says she looked at lots around the city but found it impossible to jump through the necessary bureaucratic hoops. The Brooklyn Navy Yard proved a fortuitous (and last-minute) alternative.

Lest one think that this is all just for art worldly titters, Kirk is currently accepting weeklong reservations, which are priced at $199.99. (Act now! Due to the Venice Biennale exodus the week of June 5th may still be available). But be forewarned: any potential guests will have their insouciant timeshare habits recorded for posterity in the form of a third exhibition, the location of which has yet to be determined. Says Kirk: "The final show will include ephemera from peoples' stays there. Before and after check-in, the Maison's matron will note any damages on a checklist, as a landlord does. Then I'll come in when they leave, archive the detritus and photograph the environment. All detritus left behind is property of Maison des Cartes."


The piece seems deliver a warning: Buyer beware! A combination of personal experience with a timeshares and an interest in the current decline in property values inspired Kirk: "The time share experience is a nightmare. You're always getting harangued into ‘upgrading,' and that experience is woven into this project. It's also a joke on the art market, with its system of pricing. The people who rent Maison des Cartes will get emails and paper mail inviting them to upgrade and become a ‘collector.' And then, they can move to the next level, and become a ‘bronze collector'." Spoken like a true art veteran of both the art world and the timeshare.

[All images courtesy the author and Lisa Kirk.]