Christian Demand: Homestorys

The private dwelling is regarded as a realm of individual self-definition. Yet dwelling is one of the areas of daily experience in which we become, directly and on an ongoing basis, the recipients of other peoples advice, comments, and opinionsboth at a personal level and via the media. Even when this input is inoffensive, couched as private sentiment intended purely for information, we find ourselves confronted with design ideals, behavioral expectations, and notions of order, all of which imply obligations that go beyond the individual. This book is concerned with this peculiar contradictionthe tension between the aspiration to autonomy and the practical experience of heteronomyand the no less striking promises of happiness that have, for over two hundred years, accompanied the dream of right living. Homestorys is published within the scope of a research fellowship offered by the Dresden State Art Collections Archiv der Avantgarden - Egidio Marzona. Christian Demand (b. 1960) has worked as a musician, radio journalist, and art historian. He has been editor of the journal Merkur since 2012. Rudolf A. Fischer is an art historian and exhibition maker. He has been director of the Dresden State Art Collections Archiv der Avantgarden - Egidio Marzona since 2017.