Collaborating artists Jeff Foye and Gordon Winiemko, known as JEFF&GORDON, present the 2016 edition of “Not at the Dinner Table” to New England audiences this fall. This timely, distinctive art intervention is an unusually conceived and enacted participatory work. It invites the public to participate as telephone callers and, if they choose, as listeners-in on others’ remarks.
Telephone callers are prompted to leave anonymous voicemail messages addressed to someone important to them, ... view more »
Collaborating artists Jeff Foye and Gordon Winiemko, known as JEFF&GORDON, present the 2016 edition of “Not at the Dinner Table” to New England audiences this fall. This timely, distinctive art intervention is an unusually conceived and enacted participatory work. It invites the public to participate as telephone callers and, if they choose, as listeners-in on others’ remarks.
Telephone callers are prompted to leave anonymous voicemail messages addressed to someone important to them, expressing what they might otherwise hold themselves back from saying about a point of disagreement between the two. Several conceptual dimensions are part of this enactment. Primarily, of course, the title of the piece conjures a private domestic setting, where socialization happens, and where a sense of familial decorum and admonishment — the do’s and don’ts — is learned. In “Not at the Dinner Table,” in contrast, messages are delivered to a distant telephone number unrelated to the intended receiver, and, moreover, are meant to be shared widely. The project offers a rotating selection of these voice mail messages for callers to listen to.
For the fall 2016 iteration of “Not at the Dinner Table,” the artists have chosen a phone number bearing the area code of Volusia County, Florida – one of the final battlegrounds in the hotly contested 2000 presidential race. Because a presidential election – perhaps none more than this current presidential election – is exactly the kind of topic that friends and relatives hold themselves back from talking about at the proverbial dinner table.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS: Jeff Foye lives in Wakefield, Rhode Island. Gordon Winiemko resides in Long Beach, California. The artists began collaborating a few years ago when they were graduate students at California State University Long Beach and UC Irvine, respectively. They style their collaborative moniker as JEFF&GORDON – all caps, ampersand, no spaces. This is the first exposure of JEFF&GORDON to New England audiences.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE: This art project is not based in a conventional gallery. Call (386) 951-3320 any time of the day to leave your message or to listen to a rotating selection of the messages that the project has received.
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