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What's going on around the globe

Hoping to put a bit of passion back into a relationship?  You  could do worse than Susan Kendzulak's  latest exhibition,  Love/Hate, which encourages couples to  get closer - literally.

It's part of her conceptual art series, Everything is Dangerous, and attempts to show how fashion  can 'link two people together',  with the hope that the works 'will help improve their relationship'.

Feel free to step into one of her hand-knitted tubes with your partner - they're inspired by the Chinese handcuffs toys that lock people together by their fingers.     Or you could both don her boxing gloves and jump into the  ring in the centre of the room,   with a digital screen  showing  animations and clips of boxers in action.

Not that either of you will be able to land any punches - the gloves are sewn together. You

have no choice but to interact  with your partner.

The New York artist, who is now based in Taipei and Kyoto, began the Everything is Dangerous series with Disasters (2000), a response to the  Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan  in 1999 that killed 2,400 people.

The piece  focused on survival. Kendzulak asked: 'Do you really feel safe with that flotation device stuck under your airplane seat?  I live in an active earthquake  zone and I keep my new earth-quake survival kit right next  to my bed. Now I feel safer.  Besides providing a restful sleep,  it protects me from falling blocks  of concrete. One size fits all comes in Safety White.'

Kendzulak created a collection of what she calls disaster-friendly garments, captured in a series of photographs. Safety White shows  her wearing a hard hat  and pillows strapped to her limbs emerging from a crumbled building. Another  shot shows Kendzulak running from a raging fire wearing  an inflammable jumpsuit covered with 'anti-fire matter bags filled with pure genuine H20'.

Then came Relationship Crisis Hotline (2002), which is more interactive. In this piece, she wanted to experiment with the  question of whether art could  be passed from one person to  another using a business card.

The exhibition  included a tent  with a two-metre-high pillow inside.  Anyone who had recently suffered a relationship break-up  could kick  and punch the pillow  to their heart's content.  There was also a desk with a box of tissue papers  for those who preferred to cry.

'I handed out business cards for months saying  to call me if you've been dumped and feel  like dying,' says Kendzulak, who has no training as a counsellor.   'I would then go to the person's house to prevent a suicide - as the suicide rate over break-ups is really out of control here in Taiwan.

'In the gallery, I exhibited suicide statistics, information about depression and how break-ups damage a woman's health for about two years, and where people can go for help.'

She says the work finally ended this year.  The last call she received was  from a man who told her he was masturbating while speaking to her.

Love/Hate seems a little tame  by comparison.

Love/Hate, Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei.  Ends today



Taipei