Dinner and A Rose, 2010
Sarah Bodman and Nancy Campbell, 2010

Sarah Bodman and Nancy Campbell produced Dinner and A Rose, an artist's book in homage to the novel The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith.

Sarah and Nancy were commissioned to create the work for the University of Dundee's project Poetry Beyond Text: Vision, Text, Cognition, to investigate
how readers respond to visual aspects of poetry. Highsmith charts her murderous hero Tom Ripley's greed for the good life using culinary themes. Ripley's character is defined by what he chooses to eat and drink, from devil-may-care martinis in Mongibello to penitential hot milk in Rome. Sarah and Nancy
decided to focus on Highsmith's menus in the commissioned work. Inspired by Poetry Beyond Text's interest in experiment, they recreated Ripley's meals
in a live performance.

Sarah prepared a delicious, if sinister, dinner, for twelve guests, with a thirteenth place set for the absent Tom Ripley. Every food mentioned by Highsmith
was served, from cold chicken in aspic to sole veronique, and every drink mixed (even Dubonnet!). The dinner lasted over twelve hours. All the night's conversations were recorded and Nancy used the transcriptions as collage material, creating a series of 18 poems. Sarah photographed Ripley's setting
for each course, her images and Nancy's poems partner each other in the finished work.

Sarah and Nancy were delighted with the project's success and have continued the 'novel dinner' as an annual event. In 2011 they worked with
The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland and in 2012 they are producing a tribute to Donna Tartt's The Secret History.

A silent video records the dinner party hosted (over a day) by Sarah Bodman and Nancy Campbell serving all the food and drink consumed in
Patricia Highsmith's Ripley novels. With thanks to Simon, Tom, Paul, Lilla, Natalie, Angie and Margaret.

Watch the movie

Edition of 20, digital print, clothbound, silver tooled title, 2010. www.poetrybeyondtext.org/bodman-campbell.html
See Nancy 's entry on The Gourmet Mr Ripley at nancycampbelle.blogspot.com/2010/05/ripley-gourmet.html

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