The Edge of Emily's Desk

The Edge of Emily's Desk is a video work shot on location at Emily Dickinson’s family home (The Homestead) in Amherst, Massachusetts, by permission of the Emily Dickinson Museum. Filming took place in Dickinson’s bedroom where the poet’s 17in. writing table sits in the southwest corner of the room. The work, presented as a four-screen installation, becomes an exploration in scale, colour and detail. Close, careful observation is coupled with patient surprise to evoke - through durational medium of video and the spatial configuration of the four screens - the writing space of the poet as much as the focused attention demanded by a reception of Dickinson’s work. Presented at Woburn Square Studios as part of the Research Spaces exhibition and conference, hosted by the Bartlett School of Architecture and the Slade School of Fine Art (2005) and at the Centre for Creative Collaboration (2010).