METASTASIS

2024

“Metastasis" is an installation, sculpture, and painting project based in research on the mass production of houses, finishes, and décor in the housing construction industry during the post-World War II economic boom in the United States, exploring its global aspirational and political implications.

In this period, the Levitt brothers developed the Levitt Homes, the first houses constructed using the Ford system for mass production. Alongside other hegemonic efforts disguised as equal housing initiatives, the rise of American suburbia paved the way for the integration of capitalist values—such as viewing family as society’s core, gender role models, individualism, DIY culture, and increasing competition—all framed within an anti-communist agenda. This new domestic ideal was more than an aesthetic shift; it served as a tool for cultural interventionism, justifying military actions under the guise of protecting the home and its values.

The ongoing project questions the use of drywall in house construction and the industrialization of Damask floral patterns as symbols of aesthetic democratization and improved living conditions, while also highlighting how aesthetics are instrumentalized by hegemonic powers.