Yilei Xue

This project is about a temporary exhibition that tells the story of the past. Although the Clandon House is already a shell left by fire, it has many ‘ghost traces’ within the building showing its 300 years of rich history. My aim is to reveal some of the incident by creating an experience of exploring these ‘ghost stories’, while also encouraging visitors to interact with the building in a more intimate and vertical way.

I selected four volumes — library, dressing room, state bedroom and green drawing room, and create several ‘stage sets’ as a form of storytelling. They are all developed from the ghost traces within these volumes, allowing the past to co-inhabit the space of the present. A consistent mirror wall is introduced from the external to internal. Visitor’s perceptions are dramatically changed when they drift through mirrors and walls. Beyond that, visitors are also experiencing the space in a ghostly way. They are entering from windows and moving through walls. I organised the rooms with unpredictable circulations, so there isn’t a certain sequence for the exhibition. Every room has multiple approaches to enter, thus visitors can explore their own route of the exhibition.