Unhomely: Reynold's Cottage

Reynolds Cottage (AU) in The Rocks is processed and possessed in this premiere of a new work from the Life After Wartime suite, an ongoing body of electronic art that poetically engages with Sydney’s criminal past through archival police photographs (1945-60). With ‘Unhomely’ the artists set loose an historical reverie, reanimating a site soaked in centuries of humanity. As winter’s dusk encroaches on The Rocks, a dream of past occupants and events unfolds through the windows of Reynold’s Cottage. The spectacle is uncanny, luminous and touching. This old home gets transformed into an uncanny magic lantern disclosing a dark city’s yearning. ‘Unhomely’ can be viewed from two perspectives – 28 Harrington Street and the rear, accessible from the public square off Suez Canal. The images come from several local crimes, from murders to petty theft, abortion and illegal gambling. Images used with the kind permission of the NSW Police Forensic Photography Archive, Justice and Police Museum, Historic Houses Trust of NSW