Supper At Last, 1990-92

Video installation

Table 600x150x75 cm, tablecloth, 3 chandeliers, 13 chairs, 13 audio-recordings through 13 pairs of earphones, 3 video-projectors, 3 videotapes (color, sound).

The work consists of a table 160 x 600 x 75 cm in size, covered with a white tablecloth. Thirteen chairs are arranged along three sides of the table and three large chandeliers stand on the table.
Three video projectors mounted on the ceiling above the table project video images onto its surface. The three projected images consist of video footage made by means of three video cameras mounted above an identical table. They show the surface of the table (the edge of the frame coincides with the actual edge of the table) during a dinner party for thirteen - their hands hold spoons, knives, wine glasses or simply gesticulate. The sound is a cacophony of male and female voices that talk, laugh or argue. Occasionally, the sound is muted to be replaced by complete silence, and the dinner turns into a highly formal event, a ritual. From time to time, the surface of the table assumes the function of a board on which text is written. In addition to environmental sound which fills the space of the installation, a set of headphones is provided for each chair and, sitting at the table, one can listen to various taped voices. The voices belong to persons who perhaps should get together for the last supper of this century: Marcel Duchamp, Sigmund Freud, Frida Kahlo, Elvis Presley, Bertolt Brecht, Marilyn Monroe, Donald Duck, Albert Einstein ...