Adverse possession, from which the title of this body of work takes it name, is a legal principle under which a person with no legal right to a property can acquire such through continuous occupancy.
In 2012, struggling to stave off foreclosure on their own home, Koumoundouros and her partner moved into a neighbor's recently-vacated house, hoping to live there free and rent out their own home. The house, however, was not fully paid off and was destined for bank foreclosure. Koumoundouros became obsessed with turning the house into an art object in which to both honor the former owners —a lesbian couple—and comment on the crisis of housing inequity faced in Los Angeles.
By possessing the house, Koumoundouros became both storyteller and protagonist in a narrative that chronicles the political and personal fallout of the recent housing market collapse. She treated the home as a monumental readymade, covering it entirely in gold paint and, by moving in, weaving her own personal narrative and desires into the real and imagined story of the previous owners.