A rental ad for an indoor nature reserve, centrally located and to be shared with no fewer than 264 housemates: spiders, mosses, fungi, caterpillars, and a pair of little owls. No income requirements, but a love for weeds and trees growing through the cracks in the laminate flooring. I illustrated my poem with watercolours, analog photos, and collage on black paper (outdoor scenes) and envelopes from the municipality of Hilversum (indoor scenes). The two types of paper alternate so that you can look outside through the window envelopes.
The book We’ll Give You a House is my response to a letter themed Thuis als toekomst (Home as the Future) by Heleen Janssens, which I received as a member of the art collective Zusterhood. Heleen was inspired in part by a line from Philosophy of the Home by philosopher Emanuele Coccia: “The future of the world can only be domestic.” Whatever you hope for the future, shaping it begins with living somewhere and caring for it.