Oh we are all tired today.
But – The dinner last night went well. I am still to go through the footage properly. The idea for this dinner started about ten days ago, when we met laurens tan at Jean Klimak’s opening at Where Where space. Laurens asked matt to come over and cook. I thought we could shift into more of an event/a type of intervention. We decided on an event that tracks emotional connections.
Our guests were Australian Ambassador for China (he resigned a couple of months ago, Geoff, and his friend Shirley – who is a TV anchor for CCTV morning news. We had a few artists such as Douglas Lewis and Jean Klimak, Gordon from Where Where Space and others, Jane, who lives near to Lauren and feabe as well – nine all up. All the girls from Platform China turned up to be the seamstresses (they were fantastic), and also Jamie to help serve. It was a great night. The food went really well.
It started off stilted. A small talk about the work. Matt talked about the food. They were a bit apprehensive. I asked the seamstresses to intuitively track the emotional connection – starting off with loose threads, and each course they ate, the threads became more tense and more restrictive. By the end of the night, they were all very much intwined with each other. It was strange – the accelerated familiarity – with in 30 minutes, there was group singing – girls, who were incredibly shy to start with, were climbing over table, songs were being sung (mostly chinese songs from the revolution). The Geoff the ambassador was trying to burn the threads and start a revolution. ‘Its too psychological’ yells Geoff. “we need to revolt”. I am starting to feel ‘claustophobic, yells Doug. ‘No one is connecting with me’ fears Jane. Gordan and Geoff start to discuss promises of feeding each other the more restricted they became. Gordon states ‘its more about helping each other’ – as they help each drink wine. I need you to talk with me, requests Jane. I have learned in China, that a dinner involves many toasts, and these toasts were continued throughout the night. As the seamstresses kept sewing they were harder to do – much wine spilt by the end of the night. I look back on the night – It was a strange accelerated initmacy. It started with people who didn’t know each other and with in less than an hour, probably about 40 minutes, there was singing, and all the interweived guests has strategised together how they were going to leave the table in one move so they could all start dancing together. They all danced, interweaved, until Geoff finally broke loose.
I think tomorrow I will write to the guests and ask them to comment on the experience. We have the clothing they wore. Gordan and Douglas staid connected for a few more hours, – its now beside me – a twisted mess of string and cloth, tangled, smelly and smoky. They seemed to love it – Wow, this is not like most dinner parties, comments Jane. ‘I loved it’. I am interested if they are still thinking about it, and more about how they felt.
I am unsure how to treat the footage – will look at it in a couple of months. We may continue this event – our next one may be in India, but need to sleep on it for a few weeks. As Matt, Pablo and I came back in the cab, a little tired, a little hungry (we didn’t have much time to eat), we smiled and thought beijing is a lot crazier than we expected. There is a real openness here, and also generosity – constant invites, constant social events – we have been here for two weeks, and feel like we are becoming part of the landscape.
On the otherhand, as I looked out of the cab window, onto the dusty wide streets, and the eeriness of the orange glow of the light caught in the dull and constant smog, – I thought, I miss the smell of the ocean.
