Bad Research : Tahini is thicker than blood, two-person exhibition by Dan Allon and Ari-Pekka Leinonen, La juan Gallery, Madrid, Spain, curator: Matias Daporta and Juan Gomez Alaman.
Curator Juan Gomez Alaman:
"This performance is another multidisciplinary fictional story created by the performative duo Ari-Pekka Leinonen (Finland) and Dan Allon (Israel). While they use humor to create a fictional world, the story is highly influenced by current world events in a pursuit of seeing beyond preconceptions, and reveal a more complex narrative that can be more insightfully shown through means of art. The work does not offer a solution to problems, yet aims to evoke a discussion about the connection between tragic events, power struggles and privilege art making, and the role of humor in it.
The performance will spread over three days – from Friday 19/5/2017 to Sunday 21/5/2017.
Timetable:
Friday – “the birth of Tahini”: The duo would perform as terrorists, convey interrogations and recruit the spectators into their new terror group. While their fellows wait on the top floor of the gallery, the duo would call them down one by one, into the unknown. After the formation of the group, in which participant would be given a simple assignment, there would be a Tahini party at the gallery, including Hebrew and Finnish music, food and balloons.
Saturday –“we don’t more people!”: The gallery would be open for visitors to watch the remaining of the party as an exhibition on the top floor. Meanwhile, the duo would work on texts and letters, in order to reveal them to the spectators tomorrow!
Sunday – “a funeral: we admit nothing!”: The returning spectators would come back in order to hear the texts written by the duo, now performing not only as terrorists but also as investigators trying to prevent terror! The audience is promised to be VERY SURPRISED!"
During the first performance, the spectators were interrogated one by one, and were obliged to sign a contract. The contracts were finger printed with tahini. Afterwards, they were photographed as a proof of their recruitment to the tahini terror group.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Why do you want to join us / por qué quieres ser parte de nosotros?
What is failure? / Que es fracasar para ti?
What is your motivation to join us / Cuales son tus motivos para unirte a nosotros?
Can you give us names / Puedes darnos tus nombres?
What is your fake identity / Cual es tu falsa identidad?
If you were we, what would you do with a terrorist like you / Si tu fueses yo que harías con un terrorista como tu?
What is you method of terror / Cual es tu método de terror?
What do you find funny /Encuentras esto divertido?
How do you give birth to Tahini / Como llamarías al tallin?
Are you ready to accept this bond / Estas preparado para aceptar este reto?
CONTRATO
Yo,
Nombre falso: ___________________________
Nacimiento: ___________________________
Quiero fracasar con vosotros!
Firma: _____________________________
Ciudad:_________________________________
Fecha _________________________________
On the second day, Leinonen and Allon acted as self-sabotaging investigators, turning against their own project. They wrote investigative texts about each other - Allon in Hebrew, and Leinonen in Finnish, and declared the gallery as a forensic crime scene.
On the third day, Leinonen and Allon conducted a second performance, of a funeral for the organization. They read the texts which they have written on the previous day, in its original languages.
