'Down in the Basement' conjures up images of a creature or spirit lurking in the shadows as the basement; as a generic term in the collective unconscious; bears strong connotations to childhood fears or anxieties. The Basement in Milkwood is an ambiguous place, being at the same time located under Roath's friendly community orientated gallery whilst being cold, damp and seemingly cut from the exterior world.
The installation aspires to follow and enhance this ambiguity, making the viewer both amused and uncomfortable, whilst raising issues about our relationship to fallen hair, 'others', as well as the value and function of everyday objects. It draws parallels with symbolism surrounding hair in the collective unconscious and Victorian hair art, whilst aiming to be evocative of both the presence and absence of the body. Viewers were invited to walk bare-feet onto the carpet, surrounded by pictures of the people who had 'donated' their hair.
Human hair hand-felted into wool carpet, photography