All We Need, Les Soufflantes, Luxembourg
10 – 25 February 2007
Luxembourg
At All We Need Of All The People In All The World is part of a larger visual art show which has taken over an enormous old steel works in Luxembourg for six months. All We Need seeks to ask questios about what the essential human needs are and might be in the future and how these can be satisifed without endangering the survival of the planet. Other pieces in the show include a specially constructed beach with mountains of snad and a plastic water bottle sea, video installations looking at consumerism and the manufacture of goods, and a row of soft beds inviting people to lie down and dream about alternative futures. The journey through the show ends with a three storey slide from the top of the building to the bottom. The whole thing is a very adventurous undertaking – beyond the installation of large scale works of art, the building had to be kitted out with miles of cabling, cleaned numerous times, fitted with facilities for visitors and so on. To walk around the exhibition is an inspiring experience, even if not all the sections are as effective as others. Of All The People In All The World became the UNDERSTAND zone. Many of the themes addressed by the show are ones that we look at although within this context we placed perhaps more of an emphasis than we might normally do on statistics relating to globalisation, climate change, poverty and migration. Alongside these we tried to include a range of other stats to give a flavour of the diverse range of subject matter that Of All The People can consider and to place in a few important moments of humour.
This show is the first time we have left the rice unattended. We spent a week performing and then left the show to be looked after by the All We Need team. This was a bit if an experiment for us. We very much see the show as being a ‘perfomance’ – a piece given atmosphere and theatricality by our presence and able to continually evolve as we weigh out more statistics. We are also able to talk to visitors, explain our methods, listen to suggestions and answer questions. However, it was impossible for us to stay with the show for six months and so we decided to give it a go. Karen visited some 3 months into the run to find that the show had been well cared for but hundreds of visitors in a dirty industrial space had taken their toll. Wether we would want to leave the rice for such a long period again is still a bit up for debate.
Credits
Performers: Chris Dugrenier, Charlotte Goodwin, Jake Oldershaw, Karen Stafford, Craig Stephens
Image: Karen Stafford
Concept: James Yarker
General Manager: Charlotte Martin
Advisory Producer: Nick Sweeting
Thanks for making my world bigger! Awesome work!
Audience Member
It’s good – I’m going to stop eating rice.
Audience Member
“The eyes of the world need opening to see how closed our eyes truly are. Thankyou for opening my eyes.”
Audience Member
This exhibition is a veritable ‘visual’ wake-up call to the problems of humanity. Superb!
Anne-Marie and Marcel
I was almost a grain of rice in your tsunami statistic.
Audience Member
“thanks for showing us the reality of life! Things that are often hidden from us for fear of frightening the people of the world.”
Audience Member