babaà presents “in this room,” a series about the people who inspire us with their beautiful ways, in the rooms and spaces that keep them honest and inspired.
For our fifth in the series, we visit the brilliant writer and actress Alexandra Auder at the home she shares with her family in Philadelphia. Alexandra has made us laugh for years with her sharply hilarious character videos and we loved her very affecting and witty memoir “Don’t Call Me Home” about her idiosyncratic life growing up with her mother Viva, one of Andy Warhol’s superstars. Shawna Ferreira photographs Alexandra in the spaces where she found herself working to finish her book.
In these rooms I finished my book. I had to constantly move from one room to another because, depending on the time of day, a quiet space could suddenly transform into a Nerf Gun Battle Room, or a man would be rewiring an outlet at my feet, or the heat would be turned off, or I’d find five hungover teenagers sprawled about, stinking and sleeping. A few months ago, my husband helped me create a room of my own where I’m writing this now. I bought a bookshelf and gathered all my books that were scattered around the house, stacked on the floor, and carefully organized them in my own way. We hauled a massive desk up the outside of the house and maneuvered it through the bedroom and into this room. I selected some books I’m most in love with and arranged them on my desk so I can look at them while I write. I love this room. Only thing is, it has no walls or doors.