The Drifting Seamstress is an experimental research project investigating the themes explored in Walter Benjamin’s essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” and catalogues a series of interactions with both the hard and soft ambience of Great Portland Street, in order to chart an urban navigational system that operates independently from the everyday experience of the site. The idea that a replica holds a different energy or “aura” to its original is used to interrogate the site of Great Portland Street through the Exquisite Corpse drawing of a 19th century seamstress — a reference to the Regency architecture and Arts and Crafts influence on the site. The project focuses on the most important parts of the Seamstress’ body — her hand, eye and loom — and looks at how these three elements allow her to enter the “derive” or drifting state that Benjamin highlights in his Arcades project. The narratives of Hand, Eye and Loom aim to capture the dichotomy between the physical and ephemeral qualities of site, while forming a key part of the Polyphonic Gatehouse for the creative user.

This work is currently in progress and will be updated in due course.