Pam Hall as House: A Conversation

Abstract:This conversation between artists Pam Hall and Hurmat Ain, which took place in December 2021, is framed within a ‘house’ as a metaphor and a verb, in response to Pam Hall’s work. Hall’s practice is a way of life and houses many lives within itself. The following conversation gives insight into Pam Hall’s practice around women’s labour, everyday life, domesticity, and performance of living. It would not be possible to speak of Hall’s many years of artistic production in a few hours, yet this interview is an attempt to capture a fraction of that vast practice, or prayer, as Hall often refers to it. The reader is being invited on a walk with Hall through an imagined house, in the hope that this exercise provides context for witnessing a specific stream of her works and thoughts around performing house/housing.