ART Habens
Maya Gelfman
work is accomplished, and only then, do I look for a place for it in the world. And when a work is out there, pursuing fulfillment, that is when the viewer ' s involvement plays an important role.
Naturally, when I create site-specific interventions, choosing a visual language that refers to a particular context is indispensable. Audience reception might act as a factor in this case, as long as it ' s connected to the essential core and function of a work. In a way, street-art works on all of these levels. In public spaces I ask questions regarding awareness and submergence, whether the representation of the personal could ever exist out there, not to mention create a moment of mindfulness for a passerby. That is why I always try to be open and in the moment myself, create with the same intention I wish to convey through the work. A work can take 10 minutes or a year to make. It has to do with precision, intentions and how well these are rooted in the actual context of the work ' s meaning. What I ' m saying is that I strive to practice what I preach and create with the same intention I wish to convey through the work. So if a work is supposed to encourage awareness, I make sure to be open and absorbent in order to reflect the specific atmosphere that was around me at the time of creating the work. And if a work is about assimilation, I ' m deliberately getting lost in the urban mess. that there were expectations as to what I ' ll do, though the gallery owner kindly made sure not to pronounce them. Still I decided to take the word NEW quite literally and surprise myself by creating in a new way. The challenge was set- I wanted to go through this process while inventing a methodical way to flexibility, change and random potential. Since my actions can be monotonous at times( as mentioned earlier, 6 months of weaving strands of wool or puncturing 2000 tiny holes in a single sheet of paper), I had to find a way not to succumb to mechanical actions. I set myself the goal of maintaining a coherent intention without controlling and over-analyzing it. The solution I found to all of the above was to combine simple " body tricks " with " letting go " and embracing serendipity. I used sensory synthesis- I divided my attention between the senses of touch, hearing and sight.
Thank you for this thought provoking discourse, it was a pleasure. These days I ' m working on an installation for the Israel Museum of Art, that would be exhibited in May. Later on this year and leading to 2017 I ' ll be embarking on a global social-art project that will generate an exchange of ideas, messages and life lessons between parallel communities in faraway places, beginning with the USA. This project will also include a street-art tour as well as other events. Then, back to Israel in 2017-18, for a planned new solo exhibition at the launching of the renovated Ramat-Gan Museum of Art. As for evolving... It ' s definitely ongoing as we speak. I ' m currently in a trans-formative phase so I can ' t say for sure where it will take me and how things will unfold, but I ' m very much excited and looking forward to find out.
In my TEDx talk I tried to summarize a year-long process of creating a completely new body of works for my fifth solo exhibition. I knew that it was going to be a Sisyphean process and I knew |
An interview by
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Special Issue
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