CENA IN THE LOVE BOAT – LFF2011

E’ con grande piacere che parliamo di Daniela Palimariu, artista, sostenitrice del festival e amica.

Quando ci ha proposto il progetto “Cena in the Love Boat” non ha speso molte parole, e durante la performance ha preferito starsene in disparte (in radio, per la precisione). Ne spendiamo poche anche noi di parole per Daniela Palimariu, per farsi un’idea del suo percorso artistico basta una visita al suo sito ufficiale; per il suo progetto per il festival vi lasciamo le sue parole.

Questo è un estratto tradotto, a seguire trovate il testo originale integrale.

 

“Ho deciso di fare ‘Dinner in the Love Boat’ perché alla gente riesce facile adorarti se le offri del cibo. Inoltre, la gente adora le cose con la parola ‘amore’ nel titolo, e si aspetta che solo per questo capiterà qualcosa di magico. In primis, ho costruito la Barca dell’Amore. Ci è voluto un sacco, ma alla fine è stata ultimata in due giorni e mezzo di duro lavoro all’aperto, sotto il sole. Tutto è stato realizzato a mano, con attrezzi di precisione. Ho indossato occhiali di protezione e a volte guanti ed ero fiera di usare macchinari tanto pericolosi di fronte ai ragazzi. Ero contenta, il giorno in cui l’abbiamo trasportata al primo spazio di esposizione: metà della barca è stata issata sopra a un’auto, l’altra metà portata da quattro ragazzi. Mi è piaciuto creare intimità – quasi forzata – fra gente che conoscevo a malapena. La maggior parte si è rivelata molto coraggiosa; gli altri hanno criticato la mia cucina. “Siamo in Italia. Devi tener conto del sapore.”

Ecco il testo integrale

about Dinner in The Love Boat

by Daniela Palimariu

at Lago Film Fest 7, July 25th and 26th  2011

“I wanted to make Dinner in The Love Boat because it is easy for people to like you when you are giving them food. Also, people like things with Love in the title and they feel like something magic could happen because of it.

 

First, I built The Love Boat. It took forever, but it was done in 2 ½  days of hard work outside, in the sun. Everything was done by hand, with power tools. I wore goggles and sometimes gloves and felt proud to be using such dangerous machines in front of boys. I was happy the day we transported it to the first location: one half was taken on top of a car, and the other one was carried by 4 boys.

 

The guests had been given handwritten invitations and most of them were strangers to each other.

The first Dinner took place in a “bolta” leading to a “vicolo”, which is a really small square between houses.

The guest list was:

* Gigi and Clara (friends of the festival, 40 – 45)

* Alberto + girlfriend (30s)

* 2 guys artists

* Fabio, an Italian artist living in Berlin (30s)

* Adrian + 2 amici (a guy I had just met the night before).

In reality,

* Fabio was too shy to enter the Boat,

* Alberto’s girlfriend didn’t show up,

* but luckily Viviana’s mother did, and filled the space with no problem.

The food was: beetroot soup, yoghurt, burrata (v. fat mozzarella), butter, bread, feta, boiled eggs, rice, whole tomatoes, chili peppers, purple leaves, red wine, milk, water.

 

I wasn’t at the performance. Clara and Giulia were my assistants and I showed up for dessert and had a glass of wine with everyone. Nobody had touched the milk. At some point, it all seemed complete chaos, bordel, casino, out of control, and not at all as I imagined, but, as I bravely stated at the radio that evening, “it’s ok, performance doesn’t have a script”. Inside, I was trembling.

 

There was a second dinner the next evening. I made a few changes, including location (much more private and intimate), I added flowers and figs. The soup looked like left-over soup, which I liked. There wasn’t enough food. The guests were more diverse, with two foreigners among them (the rest were Italians).  It all felt much calmer, like a math problem I had already resolved the night before and this was only the result.

I enjoyed creating intimacy, almost forcefully, for people I barely knew. Most of them were very brave; some criticized my cooking skills: “we are in Italy; you have to pay attention to taste”.

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