Exhibition: Sophie Conroy

Where we Sleep

Sophie Conroy

16 May 2025

16 Aug 2025

Mediamatic Biotoop Dijkspark
Dijkspark 6, 1019BS Amsterdam
Mediamatic Foundation
+31206389901
http://www.mediamatic.net/

Where We Sleep is an exhibition transforming Mediamatic’s greenhouses into intimate, temporary sleeping spaces, inspired by the places where Sophie Conroy slept while she lived without a permanent home. This installation explores how rest and comfort are increasingly confined to private spaces, highlighting the growing absence of public spaces that support basic human needs.

Sophie Conroy - Artist and researcher Sophie slept in many places during her research of houselessness*. This is one of the many nests she found, when she voluntarily lived without a house. *Sophie: I use the term "houseless" rather than "homeless" when referring to my own experience. As I was choosing this lifestyle, I was not "homeless", and my experience is entirely different to those in this position involuntarily. My decision was born out of a desire to feel at home wherever I am.

The sleeping spaces, or “nests,” will vary in style and atmosphere, with some designed to be more cosy and others more minimal. The nests will be made with a range of materials, soft fabrics, blankets, cushions, etc and more industrial elements—to evoke a range of spaces and emotional responses, from safe to unsafe, warm to cold and comfort to discomfort.

This project builds on Sophie Conroy's previous work, Without a House, in which she spent six months living without a permanent home in Eindhoven. During that time, she documented her experience and began to question the lack of accessible, supportive spaces and facilities in the city. She translated this experience into an intimate installation, exhibited in the Netherlands, Italy and Germany, most recently at Kunstall KAdE in Amersfoort. Continuing this research, Sophie Conroy developed the Welcome? blog series during her residency at Mediamatic, where she researched the challenges of living without a home in Amsterdam, and reflected on the broader implications of how cities fail to support our fundamental needs. Where We Sleep extends these ideas by transforming the greenhouses at Mediamatic to reflect on the tension between public and private space and the absence of places for rest in our urban environments.

The winner of our Greenshouses Open Call '25 Where we Sleep will be installed at Mediamatic from May 16th. This installation belongs in the A Welcoming Space program.

About the artist

Sophie Conroy is an artist and embodied researcher. She uses her life as a tool to test different ways of living, creating conditions to explore the unknown and learn more about the world and the self. This includes her research on homeless people and being home/house-less. Ultimately, Sophie explores the question: what do we really need?

Sophie takes the stance that people do not need to design more 'stuff'. Instead, we should focus on designing new ways of seeing. We have enough; we have to learn to recognise that. Through creating tools to shift our perspectives, we can move away from the current patterns of exploitation, isolation and consumption, and towards societies grounded in trust, joy and connection.