Introduction: Spatial Coordinates

Abstract

This book examines spatiality on the contemporary Australian stage, but one of the sources of my interest in spatiality is a long way from Australia: it is a celebration of spatial organization in an 1818 painting honouring the architectural legacy of Sir John Soane, by Joseph Michael Gandy (1771–1843). In the painting (see Figure 1), numerous examples of Soane’s work are depicted in one room. Some appear to be shrunk, although they are more lifelike than maquettes. Others are depicted in paintings (within this painting), while still others are presented as architectural plans and drawings, books and notes. A tiny, shadowy image of Soane in the bottom right corner becomes evident only on a closer look. The painting’s carefully assembled architectural achievements are an artistic reflection of Soane’s work that is itself well known for its surprising use of space.¹ The painting suggests the possibility of relocating or resituating ‘space’, regardless of the scale of the items depicted. It can also act as a metaphor for theatre’s manipulation of space on stage, for the opportunity to compare monumental and spatial arrangements of any dimension, and for the ability to foreground space as an object. Like Gandy’s painting, my project extracts and analyses examples of space and spatial representation, focusing on the materiality of space.