Douglas Gordon & Jonathan Monk



Douglas Gordon and Jonathan Monk have dined at “Al Gatto Nero”, one of the most popular restaurants in Turin. This is their selection from the menu:



RICCHI E POVERI



BOTTARGA DI TONNO SULLA PATATA LESSA



SPAGHETTINI AL POMODORO E BASILICO



PAPPARDELLE AL RAGÔUT D’ANATRA E BARBARESCO



NODINO DI SANATO AL BURRO E SALVIA



PESCESPADA ALLA GRIGLIA AL SALMORIGLIO



CARCIOFI FRITTI IN PASTELLA



SORBETTO AL MANDARINO DI CIACULLI



All of this was washed down with: NEGRONI, RED WINE, WHITE WINE, SPARKLING WATER, COFFEE and GRAPPA



Each dish eaten by the artists was transformed into a neon inscription. Attached to each text was a timer adjusted for measuring the time required for eating the meal. From the aperitif to the coffee, for around two hours, we are informed about the passage of time of the dinner and about the sequence of the courses. Spectators are also invited to this never-ending meal: fragrances and aromas and, between one course and the next, one appears to catch the conversation between Douglas and Jonathan. They have surely been laughing, while drinking good red wine, and recalling the time they were in Glasgow or they have been talking about art, football and their families.


Gordon and Monk often work on the idea of time and space.
The restaurant is the site of a performance and the gallery becomes a restaurant where the light plays with the arithmetic of time and the repetition does not permit the meal to end or the words to be muted.


This is a project on hospitality and hosting.
In the gallery, during the evening of the opening, the two artists, as experienced barmen, will serve you a cocktail from their bar, the Friends Electric Bar. In the background, you can hear the music of Gary Numan, reinterpreted on the piano.

Douglas Gordon and Jonathan Monk

AL GATTO NERO