Omer Fast combined the familiar childhood game “telephone” with the confessional talk show format. In a theatrical setting, invited guests recounted personal memories linked to current global events and the projection of power and freedom. As each guest began to speak, an actor appeared alongside them, listening to the guest’s account. When the guest finished, the actor retold what he or she has just heard, while another actor listened to the account and subsequently narrated his or her own rendition of the story. This sequence repeated several times over the course of the evening, allowing the story to spontaneously transform from individual memory to communal recitation, from version to version into its own fluid text.

Co-commissioned by Artis and Performa on the occasion of Performa 09, Talk Show was organized by Curatorial Seminar alum Roselee Goldberg.