The installation on display is constructed of five bare metal beds. The punctured planks of plywood were exposed to a process of sand blasting which gave them the appearance of sand dunes. Scenes take place on the beds in which toy soldiers, glass tears, and dog toys take part. The light moves around from side to side, like a search light, causing the objects on the beds to cast long shifting shadows. The installation is accompanied by the sound of breathing through a gas mask. "The installation arouses strong feelings of loneliness and anxiety. Soldiers that have been scattered by the wind. They are walking from nowhere to no place. Lost in the desert - the most powerful political metaphor that I can think of" (Tali Tamir, from the exhibition catalogue)
"There is a lot of tension between near and far - between a bird's eye view (like God's), a pilot's view of a battle field, of faraway land, and the invasive closeness of the sound. The breathing sounds remind me of a resuscitator, which compresses oxygen, something very physical and sensual. You find yourself involved, trying to connect to the rhythm of the breathing, to the need to breathe. If you don't breath, you don't exist -- sucked into the experience of dying and death... Despite that, the view is distant.
A distant view of a playground, of childhood through the eyes of an old man. (Udi Gabrieli, from the exhibition catalogue) |