RICK JONES PROJECTS

I must urgently call attention to ChanuIKEA, a performance art piece by Brian Feldman which took place the evening of December 28th, 2008, the eight day of Chanukah, at Orlando’s IKEA store.

Leading up to the event, Feldman’s press releases promised an absurd juxtaposition of Jewish holiday tradition, Swedish cafeteria food, conversation from himself and his parents, and us curious gentiles. The story begins with a comment made by a Jewish acquaintance of mine, who, upon hearing of ChanuIKEA, was offended, and would not support something which made a mockery of a holy holiday. What she missed out on was a great piece of art which rightly ennobled the Hebrew faith and kept me up half the night in contemplation.

Brian had a full script and printed program for the event, written entirely in Swedish (courtesy of Google Translate) which clumsily and hilariously guided us through the evening, beginning at the store’s main entrance and up into the restaurant. Because Swedish is close enough to English in language origin, the hilarity was found in us dozen or so Anglophones understanding and not understanding his tour-guiding in just the right balance. Brian excitedly directs our attention, in a practiced Swedish accent, to some inexpensive menu items which may be excused as being part of the traditional Chanukah feast. I think. Meanwhile I try to figure out where to place the electric menorah, now fully lit, nearest to the cafeteria’s only available electrical outlet. He continues reciting who-knows-what right up until IKEA’s automated voice tell us the store is closing in 15 minutes, which Brian then repeats in Swedish, for our benefit, of course. Strangers at other tables probably think we’re tourists, so I’m more worried about offending Swedes than Jews at this point.

Then the profundity: Brian’s mom stands up and starts explaining some of the commands God has given regarding the feast, and that while in certain situations, maybe even in Sweden, people have had to improvise to follow through with them. The Jews have had a lot of certain situations, and it is a brand of resourcefulness in those times that have made them who they are and kept them on the planet over the centuries. Suddenly and quietly, in a land of tourists, at a restaurant from a foreign land, we are made aware of this. Like a lot of great art, this is all implicit in subtle metaphor, not shoved in your face.

After eating we are guided downstairs to the lighting department, which Brian excitedly proclaims to be “the promised land.” It was in this section of the store that we all sang together the traditional ChanuIKEA song, Light En Candle.