Instant exposure

Slideluck III is a fusion of food, community and art in Tel Aviv.

By MIRIAM KRESH
Food at Slideluck is labeled dairy, vegetarian or vegan. (photo credit: Courtesy)
Food at Slideluck is labeled dairy, vegetarian or vegan.
(photo credit: Courtesy)
The Tel Aviv Arts Council is sponsoring the third Israeli Slideluck on June 12, a nonprofit event whose objective is to get people together over food and art.
The idea is simple: Let hundreds of happy, excited people share delicious, homemade food, then offer an hour’s show of contemporary art on a large screen. Artists get instant exposure, and the audience explores new art – all in a beneficial synergy. Often, a tight community evolves out of the pleasant evening.
Slideluck began in the Seattle backyard of Casey Kelbaugh in 2000. In 2003, Kelbaugh relocated to New York as a photographer for The New York Times; Slideluck then expanded to over 100 shows in more than 75 cities around the world.
Avi Fruchter, director of Slideluck III via the Tel Aviv Arts Council, explains, “First of all, it’s about food; people make food that they’re going to share. If you’re a foodie, it’s a fantastic opportunity to show off your cooking.
And when you break bread with someone, you connect really well.”
Food brought by participants should be vegetarian, homemade and enough to share with eight to 10 people. Supervisors check each person’s dish to make sure it’s appropriate and mark the dishes with little flags denoting vegetarian, dairy or vegan; there will be a kosher table, too.
“We know that many people keep kosher to one degree or another, and we want to make sure everyone feels included,” says Fruchter.
The crowd is an eclectic mix of people from age 20 through 70, coming from around the country. The first two hours provide time for people to eat and mingle. At 9 p.m., the lights dim and people congregate, as in a movie theater, to watch the video: 20 three-to five-minute clips, each about a different artist, with music. About 20 of the artists will be present.
“People clap if they like something,” says Fruchter. “When you go to a museum, you look at an image for a second or two. When you have a few hundred people looking at the same art at the same time, reacting the same way, it’s different – a wonderful energy. Every video goes up on the Slideluck site, so the artists get global exposure.”
This year’s Tel Aviv event will be introduced by Slideluck founder Kelbaugh, who is flying in from New York. The show, featuring contemporary Israeli art, is professionally curated by Molly Surno, an installation artist whose works have been exhibited at Austria’s Essl Museum and Salzburg Museum of Modern Art.
Slideluck will be held at Tel Aviv’s Alfred Gallery, 5 Chelouche Alley, on Thursday, June 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Participants who bring food pay NIS 30; those without food, NIS 70; and price at the door is NIS 80. There is room for 500 participants, but the event is usually sold out a week ahead, so if you want to participate, buy your ticket at slideluckiiitelavivarts.eventbrite.com/
For more information: Events@Tel- AvivArts.com or www.facebook.com/ SlideluckTLV