Susan Lee-Chun (as The Suz)
You are cordially invited to tea time (Courtesy of The Suz), 2008
The merging of all three “Suz”, Sue, Su, and Sioux (representative of three alter-egos symptomatic of the polarizing impacts of race and identity politics) into a single entity is an attempt to re-define the self, using tactics familiar to how commercial and corporate industries re- brand themselves or form a new authentic identity. The Suz, in the guise of a faux real company and brand, fabricates familiar spaces or constructs to address the notions of authenticity, identity, and perceptions. You are cordially invited to tea time was the faux real collective’s first attempt to create the time for a participatory space and experience for the artist and viewer to interact and partake in an activity that lends itself to a critical dialogue of their immediate surroundings. The installation included an octagonal platform with custom made floor cushions, tea menus, and a tea set on a serving tray (all branded with The Suz logo) that was designed and constructed specifically to host a party of four for tea in the gallery. Throughout the course of the evening everyone was invited to tea time, as a hired employee (me disguised in a blonde wig) served tea to those who willingly decided to sit on top and participate.
**You can see a short video of the installation/performance captured live by wetheat project on the evening of the opening at this link: http://wetheat.tv/WHtvChannel2.html (go to the menu to the left and scroll down to Lee-Chun)**
Hi Susan,
I think your project is a great counterpoint to the relational aesthetics of Rirkrit Tirivanija and company. Certainly that group has become “branded” even though they purport to engage in institutional critiques of the global art market.
You also seem to draw on some of the strategies that Coco Fusco and Guillermo Gomez-Pena use so effectively to get people to project their fantasies onto the scenario.
Do you initiate any kind of debriefing with the audience afterwards, or do you maintain your persona?
Thanks so much for posting.
Susan
Susan,
Coco Fusco and Guillermo Gomez-Pena’s “Undiscovered Amerindians” is one performance that was influential early on to my creating work involving identity and race politics in a performance-based and interactive manner.
I find the negotiations that the public is faced with or confronted by to be such a pivotal aspect to the work, which is where I continuously attempt to situate myself. Those moments of interaction, unsaid dialogue, and contemplation that the audience or viewer encounters while observing or participating (willingly or unknowingly) is instrumental to a critical and transformative dialogue.
To answer your question: I feel that my holding a discussion or debriefing after the performance would take away from the realism of which I am attempting to portray and convince the participants/audience. More so, I prefer to concentrate on having a dialogue happen while they are there in the midst of the work, so that the conversation or moments (that I mentioned above) are happening in the context of the project, while both parties are actually performing. So until the last person leaves the gallery or the establishment closes I am serving tea as an employee of The Suz.
In my persistence to keep the persona or project alive one of the components, what I would like to happen is for The Suz tea franchise project (and other Suz franchise ideas to come) to have “regular hours” just like any beverage serving establishment. The goal being that one can keep coming back and building on their experience and conversation on their own or at their own will.
**coming soon… Everybody Suz-ercise! A Suz-aerobics gym with franchise and membership opportunities
(a work currently in progress)