To Be or Not to Be, A Didactic Dinner Party

2021

To Be Or Not To Be, A Didactic Dinner Party.

Video Installation (24 mins)

A duplet consists of a still life table installation and a video documentation of a script reading.

It's well known and yet startlingly true that we really don't know where the food we eat comes from. Yuchen Li expertly uses the global phenomena of food distribution to guide us through a host of visual and narrative symbols. A master of materiality and composition: she confronts us with both the historic and the present. Her referencing of both Dutch golden age Still Life and contemporary consumer packaging calls us into this collapse of time and ethics. But don't worry, along this horrific journey covering the exploitation of cultures and massacre of whole communities, to contemporary inequalities of farming and migration (did we mention the environment!), she will be there to refill your teacup and garnish you with cookies. So sit back, enjoy the snacks, and contemplate the invention of the VISA.

Text by Jay Tan

To watch the script reading

A script reading session where different food ingredients talk about their personal stories of migration, connecting to colonial history, reflecting on the hyper consumerist way of living and collectively looking to build relational worlds.

This video work has been purchased by ArtEZ University of Arts and donated to Arnhem Museum as permenant collection in 2022.

*Installation view at exhibition Between Borders at Museum Arnhem, 2023*

*Installation details, exhibition Between Borders at Museum Arnhem, 2023*

Special thanks to the below contributions and kind supports

Arduino Guru: Bram de Groot

Light Specialist: Joris van Buul, Ed Smit, Kevin van Braak, Mike Rijnierse

Theatre and Script Advice: Marthe Koning, Katy Streek, Geo Wyeth, Paulina Trejo Mendez, Kleopatra Vorria, Laila Saber Rodriguez

Voice Acting: Simnikiwe Buhlungu, Tessa Mars, Julian Abraham “Togar”, Daniel Aguilar Ruvalcaba, Diana Cantarey, Claudia Pages Rabal, Renee Bonte, Laila Saber Rodriguez, Kleopatra Vorria, Lot Benjamins, Thijs Bronts, Marvin Hebeger, Omar Salem, Wei Zhao

Script Reading: Simnikiwe Buhlungu, Tessa Mars, Julian Abraham “Togar”, Kleopatra Vorria, Madlen Popignatova, Andreas Kuhne

Camera and Sound: Christopher Leslie Lawrence

Construction Support: Wouter Roemaat, Winston Keyser, Joost Seegers

Space Support: Teun Kok, Tom Vanwagensveld

Costume Design: Renee Bonte

Installation Advice: Tang Cao

Photograph Collaboration: Anne Shoemaker

Build-up Assistants: Tico Geurtzen, Margarita Villuveit, Sophia Loopstok

Research Mentor: Andree van de Kerckhove

Tutor: Jay Tan, Kate Cooper

Studio Talks: Daya Cahen, James Backett, Bram Kuypers, Gijs Assman

Emotional Support: Aldo Ramos