The Liminal Institute, based in Amsterdam, invited flora&fauna to take part in this non-commercial multi-faceted art project. The origin of the project lies in a two week long brainstorming extravaganza held at a secluded castle in Austria. Set against the backdrop of the overwhelming number of successful “reality TV�? shows appearing at the time and indeed the continuing success of pop groups purely cast for looks or dancing ability and of course their ability to make large amounts of money, the plan was to create an artificial construct that would enable satirical commentary on the essence of what is stardom.

The project needed a star! Luckily Barbara Gene, the successful actress and model, was on hand. From that moment on, Barbara was LUKA, the beautiful, stateless-but-somehow European superstar. A guerrilla PR campaign that ran in Europe resulted in very positive press feedback. LUKA became a face that people began to recognise. Barbara’s enthusiasm for the role she played every day of every week resulted in the whole project gaining its own momentum.Back in Berlin, we organised some studio time for our star and we hooked her up with a well-known producer team and recorded a number of tracks.Parallel to these developments, The Liminal Institute wrote, rehearsed and successfully toured a stage show entitled “LUKA and The Last Celebrity�?. The show incorporated modern dance, music and fashion. flora&fauna came up with the video, lighting and stage concept. The tracks recorded in Berlin became part of the show and flora&fauna made video tracks that accompanied the songs on stage. Working together with a laser specialist, the whole look and feel of the show was a mixture of satire, excellent choreography, music, acting, fashion and humour. The show was well received by critics and toured Europe.