Striking a Cord

Though most of her work today deals with photography, London artist Maisie Broadhead struck gold with her cable drawings in 2009 while still a student at the Royal College of Art. "I was inspired by things around the house that are usually overlooked," she says of the utilitarian-cum-baroque "drawing" she made over her own fireplace with the cord of a common task lamp.

First she replaced the old cable of a lamp taken from her RCA workbech with 40 feet of electrical cord (and added a new plug) purchased at the local hardware shop. Then she painstakingly affixed it above the fireplace using cable clips and a reusable wall adhesive. The 31-year-old Broadhead, who devised the project while taking a jewelry class, claims that she "came at things from more of an arts angle. I’m not a designer trying to tidy up the annoying things in our home." Could be, but Cable Drawing #2 offers an undeniably charming road map for doing just that.