Verbal Description: Emily Barker’s Kitchen

Emily Barker’s Kitchen (2019) is made of PET plastic and measures 15 x 15 x 15 ft. (4.6 x 4.6 x 4.6 m).

Emily Barker creates elements of a typical kitchen but on a massive scale using translucent plastic. Placed on the floor, is a kitchen island flanked by two cabinets. Though translucent, these objects replicate the real elements of a typical kitchen including the molding found on much kitchen cabinetry. These kitchen elements are intentionally oversized, in order to communicate the experience of a wheelchair user in a standard kitchen. The height of the countertop is 5 feet 9 inches, the average height of an adult male in the US. Imagine moving between the island and the cabinets and how your body might feel. All the floor pieces have a white wooden base. Suspended from the ceiling are a group of kitchen cabinets made in the same translucent plastic and on the same massive scale. These cabinets hover over the floor pieces providing the upper kitchen storage and reflect the same cabinet design. Their outrageous height renders them useless because of our inability to reach them.