Institute of Contemporary Arts

Inside The Head Of Loris Gréaud

Date: 10 June 2008

Three Rooms Three Triplets

The Loris Gréaud show is into its last weeks (closing 22 June) but before it disappears from sight I cornered the show's assistant curator Jen Wu to find out how it was put together.

Cellar Door: Once Is Always Twice is an enveloping, transporting exhibition with three identical rooms accessed by automatic black screen doors that swish upwards as you approach.  It is super slick and the all encompassing nature of the show, with walls, carpets, ceiling all brought in to play made me feel like I was on the set of Stanley Kubrick film.  It made me want to behave strangely maybe put on a foreign accent and affect a limp.  Although there is something of the designer clothes store about it I found it very eerie and loved all the detail that has gone into every element from the especially composed opera to the amazing geometric carpet. If you want a more serious appraisal of the show there's an excellent article in Frieze magazine, who interestingly also mention the filmic quality of his work in a different article here.

My main focus for this post however, is how such a glossy exhibition comes together.  Jen Wu was the main woman behind the whole operation and I was fascinated to hear how she brought Loris Gréaud's vision to life, including the triplets serving black champagne...

Listen now (mp3)