OFF THE VINE: True: Graham wins an award for being a real piece of art

<p>The Happening 2000 is Tokyo's major annual contemporary design </p><p>exhibition and features interior, fashion and visual designers from </p><p>Japan, the UK and France. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Every year, Dutch magazine Frame hands out an award for the most </p><p>innovative exhibition, and this year they awarded two. The installation </p><p>at Saatchi & Saatchi Japan was one of the winners and was a </p><p>collaboration between Kei Tominaga, Joelle Boudet (a Tokyo-based video </p><p>artist) and Saatchis "Inspirer" Graham Thomas. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The chairs were constructed of wood and latex, and when you sat on them </p><p>they would emit a bizarre noise. There was a video set-up using a fixed </p><p>live camera mixed with a pre-recorded film of the same scene with </p><p>perfect synchronisation of the image. On the pre-recorded film, Graham </p><p>acted out a scenario, moving around the gallery, sitting in the chairs, </p><p>conversing with thin air and other things. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"By mixing the two images a real person, walking around the gallery </p><p>could see themselves and me on screen but, only themselves in the </p><p>gallery," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"They could sit in one of the chairs and I might be in another, </p><p>seemingly talking to them. They could even 'sit' on me. All this time, </p><p>the real me, dressed the same as I was in the video might be sitting in </p><p>my glass office so that they could see two of me. If I came out into the </p><p>gallery suddenly there would be two of me on screen." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Graham sent us some photos, and added helpfully, "This may be less clear </p><p>on the page than it was in-situ." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Vine guesses you just had to be there. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>