\u201cContinuum\u201d is a new series of exhibitions that strives to shed
\nlight on the Museum\u2019s art collection. Each exhibition will
\nserve as a platform for invited artists to create site-specific
\ninstallations which will explore a single theme deriving from
\nthe collection. A creative endeavor oscillating between a
\ntribute and an intertextual gesture, this modus operandi is a
\nparaphrase of Nicolas Bourriaud\u2019s concept of \u201cpostproduction\u201d
\ndenoting various processes applied to existing cultural
\nproducts, among them art works, to generate links and charge
\nthem with new meanings.
\n\u201cHeroica,\u201d the series\u2019 inaugural exhibition, turns a mediating,
\ncritical spotlight at the notion of heroism, the value of victory,
\nand the memory of the fighters. It juxtaposes installations
\nby two young artists, Avital Cnaani and Alona Rodeh, third
\ngeneration descendants of agricultural Zionist pioneers, who
\nconfront the local archetype of heroism by deconstruction and
\nreconstructing it anew. Cnaani corresponds with Mordechai
\nGumpel\u2019s mosaic walls which perpetuate the settlement\u2019s
\nfighter-heroes; Rodeh corresponds with bronze sculptures
\nof pioneer figures by Ze\u2019ev Ben Zvi and Yehoshua Yoshpan,
\nand with a Yizkor sculpture by Zvi Aldoubi.* The visual and
\nideological representation of the Zionist ethos of masculinity\u2014
\nthe fighting, land-redeeming sabra\u2014which drew its inspiration
\nfrom mobilized modernist art, elicits a disillusioned cynical gaze
\nin both artists, alongside fascination with the power-minded
\nimage. Via a strategy of depersonalization, each isolates the
\nheroic image and renders it a formalist motif, whose emptying
\nopens the possibility for a new narrative.
\nCnaani\u2019s ceiling work simulates a silhouette of a landscape
\npainting, conveying a sense of threat and aggression. The
\ninstallation is suspended indoors, at the Yad Labanim House,
\nas a metaphor for thatch. It vacillates between interior and
\nexterior, between variable and permanent, between lingering
\nand moving on. The narrative\u2019s underlying dichotomy is also
\ndiscernible in the sculptural matter: motion versus stasis,
\nflatness versus volume, mass versus weightlessness. The King
\nof Birds, a heroic archetype in its own right, extracted from the
\nbiblical narrative of bereavement, is depicted in motion, yet
\nserves as an image of the memory of flight. It contemplates
\nthe gap between the bird of prey and its manifestations
\n(from Roman culture through the Third Reich to Danziger\u2019s
\nNimrod), and its airy, brittle representation. The manual
\nsculptural work with small wooden sticks and scraps, virtually
\nhandiwork, is congruent with the mosaic technique and with
\nthe minimalistic principles for the creation of anti-sculpture,
\nassociated with abstract drawing modes.**
\nRodeh\u2019s audio-visual silhouettes blur the materiality of
\nthe massive modernist sculptures mounted on a Russian
\nConstructivist type of semi-architectural structure, as a
\nvariation on a victor\u2019s podium. The installation constitutes a
\ndark site conveying a Pagan ritualistic air, where the sacred
\nmetaphysical aura, despite its artificial graininess and the
\nexposure of the illusion which sets it in motion, never ceases
\nto engage in aggrandizement. With theatrical effects drawn
\nfrom the clubbing culture, the artist pits the eternal and
\nsublime with values of camp and trash, thus reflecting the
\ntransformation from the mythological hero\u2019s sculpture to a
\nrequisite in a primitive silhouette spectacle. The glorification
\nand dramatization generate an experience of ritualistic
\nempowerment centered on the hero\u2014not the static sculpted
\none, but the viewer who is blinded, observing the work as if
\nhe were sightless. The song\u2019s lyrics expose an affinity between
\nthe intense flight of the bird of prey from the adjacent space
\nand the yearning for desistence, reinforcing the link between
\nheroism and death, rendered ever more conspicuous vis-\u00e0-vis
\nthe resounding silence of the commemoration compound.***
\nThe choice of two such visually divergent works which
\noffer a diametrically opposed viewing experience\u2014works
\nwhich were, in fact, motivated by a similar act of image
\ndeconstruction and its uprooting from the mythological
\ncontext in favor of a current, personal narrative\u2014indicates
\nthe project\u2019s intention to introduce a wide spectrum of
\ninterpretations for refined, quintessential mindsets and motifs
\nin the subconscious of local culture.<\/p>\n

* Zvi Aldoubi, Yizkor, 1960s, bronze, 76\u00d740\u00d746 cm; Ze\u2019ev Ben Zvi,
\nThe Pioneer, 1930s, bronze, 70\u00d733\u00d737 cm, gift of Nativ; Mordechai
\nGumpel, mosaic walls at Yad Lebanim Museum, Petach Tikva, 1966-
\n67; Yehoshua Yoshpan, The Pioneer, 1930s, bronze, 55\u00d756\u00d739 cm,
\ngift of Eliezer Raphaelovich\u2019s family. All works from the Petach Tikva
\nMuseum of Art Collection.
\n** Avital Cnaani, ceiling sculpture, 2011, wooden sticks
\n*** Alona Rodeh, audiovisual installation, 2011, mixed media,
\n3:15 min, loop: piano adaptation of Jim Morrison\u2019s Bird of Prey:
\npianist: Maya Dunietz; singing: from Jim Morrison\u2019s Bird of Prey;
\nsound editor: Rona Geffen; audio-video mounting: Ronni Shubinsky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cContinuum\u201d is a new series of exhibitions that strives to shed light on the Museum\u2019s art collection. Each exhibition will serve as a platform for invited artists to create site-specific installations which will explore a single theme deriving from the collection. A creative endeavor oscillating between a tribute and an intertextual gesture, this modus operandi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15552,"template":"","class_list":["post-15554","exhibitions","type-exhibitions","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.petachtikvamuseum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exhibitions\/15554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.petachtikvamuseum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exhibitions"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.petachtikvamuseum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/exhibitions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.petachtikvamuseum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.petachtikvamuseum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}