Installation, silk fibres on organza fabric with audio recording.

Newcastle University Fine Art Degree Show, May 2024. 

Photos by Colin Davison.

Moral Fibre is a site specific installation composed of velvet fibres on organza fabric, accompanied by a looped audio recording of a cough. The work evokes the presence of mould within domestic spaces, prompting questions around the commodification and unaffordability of housing, and exposing unequal power dynamics between tenants and landlords. Velvet plays a central role within the work, historically associated with wealth and exclusivity, and restricted under the 1483 Act of Apparel, it functioned as a marker of class division in medieval England. 

In the UK, increased rainfall contributes to damp and mould in poorly maintained housing. These conditions are compounded by climate change, rising energy costs and fuel poverty, limiting tenants’ ability to maintain safe environments.