Tahiti, is an installation and performance I made for Reception Space gallery in London. The audience was invited to the show through a formal invitation and a set of rules describing how to behaive in a cocktail party.
Througouth the evening cocktails were served by two young "sexy" foreign waitresses who had been given instructionst to answer any question by saying "I don't speak English". On the walls I carefully placed a selecton of the collage series "Seascapes". The fragile nature of these images contrasted the busy party athmospehre, giving it an almost ridiculous and confusing feel. I wanted both to relate back to the the source material of the work (glossy magazines), as well as to social gatherings where the original purpose of the event (in this case, the art) gets lost in social networking.
Especially commissioned music by Matt Lewis played throughout the evening as the sounds in the space (conversations, laughter etc. ) were being recorded through a visibly placed microphone. The recorded sound from the opening night was then played back during the remaining days the exhibition was open. Visitors were still invited to have a drink whilst looking at the work, but this time in an empty space filled with the sound of a past party.
