The installation was a collaboration with my friend and photographer Ralf Obergfell. He had been documenting London's nightlife for a number of years and had amassed a large volume of images. He decided to stage an exhibition and asked me to come up with a live installation to go alongside it.
Dalston Superstore agreed to host the piece.
I wanted to create a series of peep shows and invite local characters to perform in them. I built little spaces and came up with different concepts for each performer. Pia was draped half naked in a prism of mirrors. James was hidden in a complete black box with only a neon light from his headpiece illuminating his face, like a strange chameleon in a night zoo. Behind one peephole a man masturbated. Cristobal hung from a tree. Sizzle was perched in a sea of costumes in the toilet, to use the loo you had to lift his skirt and pee between his legs. Jonny Woo's piece was a giant jack in the box. A large ply box contained a mountain of costumes, he would change and 'pop up' into a two way mirrored cube, switching on a light to reveal another look before disappearing back behind the mirror when the light was distinguished.
Beautiful Freaks 2do ver from Tony Hornecker on Vimeo.