“La Cena ”
Date: November 2013
Medium: Glass, Clams, Dinner Setup
On this day I collaborated with Chef Sal Marzili of the Old Canteen in the Italian district in Providence, Rhode Island. I then invited several people to lunch. I set up the table with pink and white flowers. La Cena, which means “the dinner” in Italian, is a participatory installation wherein I invite the viewers to an intimate meal. I collaborated with an Italian chef in order to create an aphrodisiac-based experience where I installed the glass figures of the female body into the dishes served. This time the clams and oysters were the heads on the shunga bodies. The restaurant was chosen specifically for the pink and floral interiors, which invoked a sense of the feminine. Although the literal use of the body through the sculptures is an important element, the body of the viewers is also highlighted through the ingestion of the aphrodisiacs. Pink flowers are installed on the table. Smell and taste play an important role in the creation of the experience. The conversations that occurred during the meal interestingly turned to repressed emotion and sexuality, suggesting that the atmosphere and props provoked intimacy and openness.
Registered as Goldieland Studio / New York, NY