Helen Stratford

Drawing upon material collected during a one-day residency spent in a Cambridge taxi cab, Helen Stratford used the space of the taxi ride to investigate the networks of objects, people, places and practices that come together in this space of transition. A manual/map formed a guide to places that become stitched together through personal/private objects and journeys. Simultaneously, a series of peculiar garments and linings informed by driving gloves/hygiene strips and settee covers inhabited the taxi itself. Just as things taken (or left behind) change the nature of each ride, the installation of these garments shifted the cab was perceived. At the same time the process of their making demanded an intimate knowledge of the taxi to translate it into a series of folds, gathers and seams.

On illumination of ‘for hire’ the taxi is transformed from a private interior into a public space at service to the user. Moreover, like the byelaws, knowledge and props for the driver, for the individual passenger the journey of the taxi itself is the background to a transformation, the passenger sits in a place in-between worlds, an extended threshold. Whether regarded as luxury, commonplace or necessity, travelling from home to the office, from the office to a meeting, from home to court proceedings or to the hospital, for a moment the taxi becomes a point of transition where the roles of the passenger shifts in relation to their location or circumstances.

< click here for web version of the manual>

With thanks to Panther Taxis (01223 715715) and Hilary Stratford ~ this project has been supported by Arts Council England