All That Was Left
National Trust Plas Newydd, Llanfairpwll 2023
Inspired by The Great Sale of 1905 where the entire goods belonging to the Fifth Marquess of Anglesey were sold at a series of auctions, “All That Was Left” re-ignited Plas Newydd with the spirit of the Marquess. Ghostly echoes of long lost possessions were created in archival tissue and offered with sales tags that attached feelings and deeper stories to each item. Visitors journeyed through the house, encountering the Marquess’ dancing shoes in the room he may once have looked out of as his audiences arrived and departed; a set of twelve cleaning cloths representing the many lives and livelihoods dependent on the financial wellbeing of the Marquess; and finally a room hung with 77 silk dressing gowns “all of the finest quality” as the paintings of the ancestors looked down and the audience found themselves both judging and being judged. The work was accompanied by an immersive audio installation created by Jon McLeod.
Visitors were invited to question what these possessions represented, beyond mere objects, and to ask themselves what they valued and why. At a time when many are struggling to afford ordinary day to day expenses, house repossessions becoming more common, and people around the world are fleeing their homes for a new life with only what they can carry, this question of what we value makes the story of the Fifth Marquess resonate with the modern world as much as it is a story about the frivolity of the rich.
The exhibition ran at National Trust Plas Newydd during spring and summer 2023.
