James Voller’s Housing Crash is an illusionistic photographic installation that confronts Australia’s shifting housing landscape. Presented at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, the work depicts the gradual submersion of iconic Australian homes into the sand, symbolising the instability of housing affordability and accessibility.

Constructed using photographic resin tiles printed with images of local homes, the installation wraps these images around wooden frames to create the illusion of structures sinking into the ground. This visual metaphor speaks to the increasing precarity of home ownership, reflecting both the financial pressures and the evolving nature of domestic spaces in Australia.

Set against the backdrop of Bondi’s coastal environment, Housing Crash challenges viewers to consider the impermanence of place and the broader implications of housing as a social and economic issue. Through its interplay of photography, sculpture, and architectural form, the work transforms the landscape into a site of reflection on the realities of contemporary living.

Bondi Cottesloe