Hye Yeon Nam: Dinner Party
Artist(s):
Title:
- Dinner Party
Exhibition:
Creation Year:
- 2008
Category:
Artist Statement:
Dinner Party is an interactive installation, where a single chair and a place set for one person seem to provide a solitary dining experience. However, the installation offers an interaction between oneself and imaginary creatures. As if she or he is about to enjoy a meal, a participant sits down at an interactive table on which are placed several objects that he or she can move. The objects cast virtual shadows on the tabletop, with animated creatures hiding in these shadows.
Among our everyday habits, having a meal is a banal routine. With tabletop technology and computer vision, however, a diner encounters a magical moment where imaginary creatures appear during the meal. Meaningless everyday gestures become meaningful when a participant touches the point of entry into a new world. Dinner Party provides an environment where people meet and interact with Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” (1872), which describes creatures hiding in the shadows. There is a chair, a table, and a table setting for one person’s dinner. The table becomes the interactive platform between the participant and the imaginary creatures living in the shadows of the table setting. Creatures move from the main plate’s shadow to other shadows while scattering or hiding in between. When the participant waits long enough, the creatures reveal themselves and the “Jabberwocky” poem appears on the table. In our solitary modern society, an imaginary friend is able to make our loneliness disappear.
