CURTILAGE

‘Curtilage’ is an urban planning term used to describe the space around buildings. For example a new housing development might build right up to the boundary fence, not leaving enough ‘curtilage’ between one build and its neighbors.

the term, however, doesn’t always refer to physical space or legal boundaries alone, but can also include the buildings contribution to the landscape and the space it commands, the place it creates. Curtilage can also be defined by sight lines, the level of privacy or intimacy required or practiced in adjoining spaces or the historical and social significance of certain kinds of buildings eg: religious or historical buildings.

Importantly to note is that the people in these situations are real neighbors. Recruited through random door knocking, wheedling friends and bribing neighbors and family. The participants in these performances bring authentic assumptions and histories to these unfolding attempts.