03 April 2014

Sauce

Now open at LEA25 is a quirky, delightful and not-to-miss installation by Maya Paris, Sauce. As something of a follow-up to her work Celebrity Blow Your Tits Off (from 2012 — more here), which poked fun at our societal obsession with personal appearance, Sauce explores relationships, and it's therefore best enjoyed with a friend. It's also downright silly quite a lot of the time, so having someone along to laugh with makes it all the more enjoyable — and some of the animations you'll encounter are best with more than one person. In my case I invited along my friend Kinn, who happens to look like my twin — really, it's a coincidence, and we're always joking about it — in these photos I'm the one in the skirt. Plus I have a crush on her, even though she's devoted to her friend Makkie (they're a cute couple). Sauce was the perfect place for a date.

"Fancy a bit of Seaside Sauce?" queries Maya. "Slap on your wig and flash those knobbly knees because this time it’s personal. Test your Sauce Factor, try your luck at the Modern Love Bureau, get sparky in the Saucy Science lab and take a headlong dive into a sea of plenty more fish & chips." If that doesn't explain everything, head over to Honour McMillan's blog, because she wrote an excellent summary of Sauce earlier today that really captures the essence of what Maya is up to, so I won't attempt to repeat what she's penned. And she's right in saying that much of what you'll experience would be ruined by spoilers, so I'm not saying much. The installation, which is gorgeously rendered, extends over several levels, and you'll use phone booths to teleport around. (Yes, they do sound like the TARDIS.)

At each location — Own Hair or Teeth?, Sauce Science, Modern Love Bureau, Danger, and The One (plus the sea level) — be sure to click on just about everything you can, and be sure to have your local sounds turned up. Many things are interactive (and are quite ridiculous), a few are takeaways, and there's a free spark plug avatar waiting for you too. You'll encounter a special surprise at the end — be sure to head up to that row of beach chairs looking out over the horizon. "So what does it all mean?" I asked Kinn. "It's art," she replied, "You let it flow over you."

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