Luncheon on the green
1996

Happening and installation in the gallery Room 46, Aarhus 1996
At the opening of the exhibition, which took place on a Saturday at 11 am, I served a luxurious lunch for everyone attending at the show. The room was green-painted all over except for a white quadrangle measuring 208 x 264 cm, which correspond to the size of the famous painting, Le Dejeuner sur l'herbe by Edward Manet.
Right under the white quadrangle on a red and white chequered cloth on the green imitation a lawn, I had placed the lunch as if it had fallen out of the picture - the immaterial had become material.
At the opening I taped the sound of people drinking, eating and talking. After the opening, I emptied and cleaned the gallery for all the food. The only thing left from the happening was the sound, which you now could listen to in a pair of headphones hanging opposite the white "picture".
Obviously, this is about imagination and about making pictures. But it is also an ironic comment on the importance of attending the opening of a show. Often the opening event becomes more important than the art. Here it is literally, but not artistically, those who attend the opening who get the "biggest piece of the cake". After the opening, the room seemed more formally and aesthetically "clean".