The New York Tea Party, Brooklyn 2004-2005

Live performance, Bushwick, Brooklyn. 21st September 2004

Sugar-plate, tea, milk, sugar cubes, paper costumes, cakes, table, chairs.

Live performance: 45 minutes.

Digital Film: DVD  PAL colour with stereo sound. 3 minutes, 59 seconds

The digital film can be viewed via vimeo

Made with the support of the Basil Alkazzi Travel Scholarship to New York.

Performers: Stacey Watson, Emily Frankfurt and Amanda Couch.

Cameras and sound: Joshua Sandler and Yasmin Etamadi.

I invited two ‘ladies’, Stacey Watson from Calgary, and Emily Frankfurt from New York, to take tea with me. We dressed for the occasion, in white paper blouses with puff sleeves, stiff high collars, and long crisp aprons. Our faces and exposed skin were ‘made up’ with a dusting of powdered sugar. Whilst sipping tea, and nibbling on cakes, we engaged in light, polite conversation. The tea service of cups, saucers, teapot and milk jugs were made of a sugar. As the stimulants of tea and sugar took effect, and the confectionary cups dissolved, we became less lady-like, licking and gorging on the sugar cups and saucers until we could not eat anymore.