Josh Philpott

I came to Milford House in a state of transition, so it felt apt to be taking part in something called the In-between residency. I arrived between houses, countries, and life stages. On the residency, I found myself between whether systems, the pull to read from the extensive book collection and the need to make artwork, between the kitchen and the vast room I shared with my partner (Shout out to Sandra) and her cat (Shout out to Pierre).

Here, we collaborated and shared performances, as well as helping one another with our individual projects. Sandra recorded my ritual hair shaving for her film; I recorded her breathing action connecting with distant ancestors through a found empty photo album; we shared hours in the kitchen together taking turns to lead and assist cooking each others recipes for the group; and my practice expanded to include all the residents and public viewers in constellation for my psychogeographic “Tour to Nowhere”  around the grounds of Milford House.

I come away from the residency with a driven sense of direction, a contentness in directionlessness without fear, and an enthusiastic will to embrace contradictions. Huge thanks to Deej and Joanna for facilitating a transformative and needed space, to the volunteers who help maintain the house and grounds and form part of the resident community who we got to know, to the resident artists we shared the space with and who bring it to life… and to D&Ms in Borrisokane for the garlic cheese chips!

(Photo credit to Sandra Zanetti and Joanna Ryan-Purcell)