It's too late to be nervous as I make my way across a very icy dark parking lot to the gallery where tonight I have been invited to participate in Robin Lambert's Service: Dinner for Strangers. I hope that I have not misunderstood the very minimal instructions I received from Lambert for the potluck, which stated simply to "bring your best dish". If I was supposed to bring dessert, I'm going to be in trouble.

Entering the brightness of the gallery, Red Deer's Bilton Contemporary Art, a group of people are already chatting and being photographed by the local media. A couple of small tables and various plinths display two distinct sets of ceramic dinner ware; a third set is laid out ready on a large table in the back of the gallery.

Dinner is about to start, but before we take our assigned seat we are ushered into the center of the gallery for a group photograph. A photographer hired by Lambert snaps a series of formal feeling photographs of the group, which true to the title of the work are all strangers, at least to me. The only person I have met before is Lambert, who I recognize from the art community, but prior to tonight have never sat down to have a conversation with.

Robin, who introduces himself to all the guests by his first name only, a familiarity I'm going to pass on, very openly tells us that these photographs will be displayed as part of the exhibition, which will continue until the closing reception on February 6th. He also tells us that we will be having another photograph taken after our meal. These before and after shots, of our dining group and those of the next two dinners, along with the different dishes each group eats off, will be the entirety of what is on display to the public. Robin has commissioned each set from a different ceramic artist: Robin Dupont has produced a set of quirky wood fired vessels, Maggie Finlayson's dishes are pale low fire casts with decal and luster and finally Candice Ring has created the bright, friendly and extremely practical set of terracotta dishes that my group will dine off.

As we sit down for dinner, introductions are made. We are indeed eight strangers, all brought together through different channels. Some guests were recruited by word of mouth, by friends of friends, others by posters, some through Facebook and a couple even boldly responded to Robin's Facebook add asking: " Do you like art? Do you like to eat?"

The food, despite the intentionally pared back directions, coordinates extraordinarily well; we have everything from curry to chicken and even some excellent desserts. Conversation begins guardedly, but livens up rapidly as wine is poured and the evening progresses. One of the most telling moments is when a woman describes calling up her grandmother to ask for a recipe to make. After explaining the context of her cooking query, her grandmother refused to give her the recipe and incited her not attend the event. Eating with strangers is a bad idea, warned her grandmother, because you can't tell what kind of people they are or if they'll leave the chicken sitting out on the counter all day.

Everyone laughs at this story, and both the story and the laughter seem to resonate with the intention of the event. The work draws on something very ordinary, but also difficult; the drive we all have to connect with others and be involved in something meaningful and the awkwardness and risk that accompany this mission. The participants in Service have a level of responsibility and centrality in the work usually reserved for the artists themselves, and the result of this event is in our collective hands. The sum of our experiences becomes the piece, whether or not all of this comes across in the before and after photos. When participants tell their children, friends and partners about the event, those ripples will form part of the network that makes up Service. Writing this down is another part of this web, as is reading about it.

Finishing up our dessert, we realize the evening is beginning to wind down, questions and discussions people have been too shy to attempt surface at last with some personal beliefs getting aired out and local politics debated. Several people also confront Robin with very direct questions about the work, and what exactly will happen at the closing reception. He explains that in addition to seeing the final manifestation of the piece, complete with all the before and after photographs of the three dinner parties, we will each be given the dishes we ate off as a parting gift.

A distinct murmur of appreciation goes around the table at this news. The decision to redistribute the physical evidence of the work emphasizes anther important way in which Service creates interconnection: exchange.

While Robin is a ceramic artist and could have easily made similar dishes to these ones himself, he instead passes both the recognition and the financial benefit onto other artists, resigning himself to the less glamorous task of organizing, grant writing and washing dishes.

In previous works Robin has developed ideas around exchange and personal interaction. In Sincerely Yours, which he has preformed multiple times, Robin bartered his letter writing skills for the promise of a good deed. He is also part of the collective the Social Evolution Research Gang (SERG), along with Ashley Neese and Lori Gordon, who as part of Calgary's Artcity Festival this summer read aloud to people in the back of their van.

Service, however, is the first of the artist's undertakings that requires the cooperation and engagement of a large network of people in a great variety of roles. This decentralization of the individual artist is what really brings the piece to life. In creating this work which is deeply rooted in its community and lives more as a network of people, ideas and stories than as a single object or event, Robin has created a criteria for success that can only be met if the piece succeeds for all the participants and the community.

Leaving the gallery and stepping back into the cold, I wonder what gallery goers will make of the exhibition. The sense of inclusion and activity speak so strongly to me that it seems like an instant disadvantage to have to try and recreate events from the outside looking in. But networks have a tendency to grow, good ideas to spread, and I wouldn't be surprised if Service causes a ripple of participation-based artworks to spread across the community.

Photos credit Karen Dean, courtesy the artist.

Robin Lambert
Bilton Contemporary Art