Sarah Barr Studio

  Sarah Barr. While the Baby Sleeps. C-print. 2005.  In the fall 2005, I began making photographs for a series that eventually would be called Some Very Short Films . That spring, we had moved with our two young children to a single home just outside the city. Until then, I had only lived in Philly rowhomes and it was an adjustment to move into a house  - as my family likes to say - with windows on all sides. Having unpacked most of the boxes and slowed down on ambitious do-it-yourself projects, I found myself contemplating my next body of work as I finished the dishes and wiped the kitchen table. I noticed that these quiet, repetitive chores while the children slept liberated my mind from my inner critic and my thoughts began to flow. This phenomenon is backed by research. Chores can lead to creative problem-solving as noted in a Psychology Today article discussing the benefits of routine daily tasks: “As researchers state here in a study entitled, "Inspired by Distra...