House-trained objects: Notes towards writing an alternative history of modern art

This essay sought to disinter a lost history of twentieth century modernism and to recuperate forays by fine artists into the applied arts. It was also a pioneering attempt to analyse the significance of artists' current engagement with the 'world of ordinary things'. The chapter was a contribution to the current debate concerning the cultural significance of the 'everyday' and sought, on a modest scale, to rewrite the history of visual modernism. Several methodological models were useful for this research including anthropological texts on art consumption (Appadurai, Danto, Gell) and attempts to reconfigure the history of visual modernism (TJ. Clark, Kirkham, Naylor, Sparke, Tillyard). It made use of my ongoing research into Le Corbusier's engagement with folk and vernacular objects. The book in which this essay appeared is now a standard test on contemporary art in relation to the home. It came out of the 'At Home with Art' project organised by Colin Painter at Tate Britain and at Homebase.