TEA FOR FREE

YEAR: 1997.

SOLO EXHIBITION: Skagens Kunstforening, Skagen, Denmark.

MATERIALS: Solar panels, immersion heater, thermos flask, water tank, tea bags, plastic cups, waste basket, napkins, spoons, camping table, coordinate system, photocopy, wood, and wire.

A white lighthouse located in Skagen, the northernmost part of Denmark known for its special sunlight created by reflections from the surrounding sea. The lighthouse is 4 stories tall. A camping table stands on the first floor holding boiled water, teabags, teaspoons and cups. The public can make themselves a cup of tea and ascend to the roof of the lighthouse to enjoy the view. On the roof, 4 solar panels are linked to an immersion heater through a wire, heating the water in the thermos on the first floor.

The idea of TEA FOR FREE is to get the audience to drink solar-heated tea. The sun is used as a function and a rational action creating an opposition to 19th-century impressionist painters who used the sun and the special light to imbue their paintings with a particular ambience. Furthermore the audience can overlook Skagen in reality as opposed to depicted through the gaze of a romantic painter.

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