Broken Homes - Andrew Mackenzie

Through reading Broken Homes, I have been made aware of some of the deeper issues that Callum Morton’s Valhalla, holds. Immediately the review began breaking down layers of meanings, one in particular was Mackenzie’s analogy of the title, explaining how the Valhalla - meaning “Hall of the slain”, implies the continuity of history and Mackenzie suggests “we be careful no to see the world through the anxiety… of USA foreign Policy”.

Morton’s original family home “Myoora” had been recently torn down, and as I understand, Valhalla became a representation of the outward old house although “burnt out, scarred and a maimed shell”. The architectural scaling and location of Valhalla meant that it is strategically tucked away from the rest of the other artworks, which I hadn’t considered until reading this review. Not only is the work separate in location, but I agree with Mackenzie when he mentions that it is also “not immediately identifiable” as art.

With this statement, arises the discussion between the public and private lives of humanity, with homes acting as the “retreat” from the world’s pressures, so in our private areas we can really be ourselves and reveal our true colours. Mackenzie mentions that the “home is central” because in recent years the city and public spaces have declined in social life, recruiting people away from public eyes to create a sub-division separating interaction.

Mackenzie then goes onto arguing the architectural side of things faulting the design of American houses as another reason for this separation between public and private, with security, comfort and community, who can say no? This according to Mackenzie and Mary Jane Jacobs “planned the separation from the working city from the seeping suburbs”.

Mackenzie states that “this Valhalla is not a heavenly hall… it is a monument to a home broken by time and the proclivities of real estate… a monument to the raving force of economy over ideology” which I think sums up the majority of Morton’s ideas. Mackenzie suggests that Valhalla’s walls mark the eroding public life as well as the demolition to a part of his own past.

I thought the review was really interesting, and opened up a couple of points which I hadn’t really thought about during our discussion in class. I agreed with most of Mackenzie’s points as well which made it easy to interpret and understand.