Fine Dining, art installation, Graft Gallery

Graft Collective curated a furniture-themed art show called Clearance! Clearance! Clearance.
 
From process, to form, and function, artists were asked to make art based on the theme of furniture.  

The art installation features a formal dining table installed half on the inside and half on the outside of Graft Gallery.

Fine Dining prompted participants to sit in chairs and look at each other through the obstructing window.  

The social experiment presented challenges of verbal communication and physical contact, forcing the guests to solely rely on body language. 

The table contained formal dining ware, candles, cloth napkins and crystal-etched bowls cut in half. The placement settings that landed at the seam line were intentionally split in half in order to create a uniform dining table for two guests to share. 

Parallels or equal opposites also appear in the installation with salt shakers on one end and pepper shakers on the other. Chair and table on the outside, the other set on the inside. 

During the opening of the group show, guests casually sat in the chairs waiting to see who they would be matched with. Once the table was seated for two, Jessica would offer wine to the guests as a reward for participating in the experiment.