The title of the performance directly alludes to the international reality TV series known as BIG BROTHER (watching you), where a selected group of volunteer participants, living in a shared household, are constantly monitored by TV cameras in all areas where the program takes place. Consequently, the chosen participants conduct themselves as if they are aware of being watched by millions of viewers through the cameras… The goal of the performance was to simulate a situation reminiscent of the TV show, but the actors’ playing area was limited to 2 m². Any members of the audience who wished to participate voluntarily, alongside M and P, were observed by the gallery audience and, in turn, became observers of the other participants. All participants simultaneously played the roles of actors and observers… M and P staged the performance in the Shock gallery, from which the sound and images were transmitted to a projection screen in the Art clinic. The audience in the Art clinic could observe the events taking place inside the Shock gallery. The performance concluded after 60 minutes when the DV tape, which continuously recorded the performance, came to an end. Throughout the performance, various participants, aside from M and P, assumed different roles of their own…

This performance offered a critical and intellectual discourse on the popular TV show. In addition to exposing themselves to the audience, M and P worked on their ‘Big Brother task’ of creating material for a new exhibition. They played their roles by inscribing several words on the walls of the Shock gallery that critically related to the BIG BROTHER show, such as IDENTIFICATION, DOMINATION, POMP, EXHIBITIONISM, GLAMOROUS, EPHEMERAL, CURIOSITY, and more, all in Serbian. Other participants who entered the Shock gallery after M and P used the performance’s context to expose themselves or to inscribe new words or sentences, sometimes accompanied by drawings, often with a humorous tone. M and P also worked on photo images that would serve as the foundation for their upcoming BIG BROTHER exhibition, scheduled for February 2006 in the same Shock gallery where the performance took place.

BIG BROTHER /  Shock Gallery, Art Clinic, Novi Sad, Serbia, 24 December 2005, duration: 58′ 45”