Wednesday, March 30, 2016

EVeN HaShiTYaH / The Foundation Stone, 1982

EVeN HaShiTYaH
The Foundation Stone, 1982
Iron part 200x200x20 cm
5 x used cast -iron shoe-last (..being placed under the iron part)
36 x light bulbs,  104 meter electrical wire(s)

The Foundation Stone
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_Stone







Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

KaV (Four in Hand), 1983

KaV
(Four in Hand), 1983
Galvanized metal, 2 x bicycle wheels,  2 x 72 ties, 70 x 200 x 200 Cm.



OFaN אופן (Wheel, Angel) NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM (OFaN, GaLGaL, OFaNaYiM, GoLGoLeT, GoLGaTA), 1983

OFaN
אופן
(Wheel, Angel) 
NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM 
(OFaN, GaLGaL, OFaNaYiM, GoLGoLeT, GoLGaTA), 1983 
Three bicycle wheels, galvanized metal pipes, two wine glasses 180 x 180 x 60 cm

And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one אופן (OFaN) wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. The appearance of the אופנים (OFaNiM) wheels and their work like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work as it were a אופן (OFaN) wheel in the middle of a אופן (OFaN) wheel. 
(King James Bible, the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, 1: 14-16) 

The word אופן OFaN means a wheel or an angel in Hebrew. In modern Hebrew אופנים (OFaNaYiM) means bicycle. 
Please note: the bicycle wheel has 36 spokes, hence the bicycle has 72 spokes. 
(ref., The 72 Names of God)

As the Talmud Yerushalmi points out, 36 is a number that alludes to the supernatural light of creation, the special light that Adam had use of for 36 hours in the Garden of Eden before God hid it for the 36 Tzadikim in every future generation. Remember, according to the oral tradition of Judaism the ל"ו צדיקים Lamed Vav (36) Tzadikim, namely the 36 righteous persons, cannot be recognized and yet they are here to hold our world, as a mother holds her child. 

At all times there are 36 concealed צדיקים Tzadikim and 36 revealed צדיקים Tzadikim,  
together they correspond to the 72 Names of God, the force that links the concealed and the revealed worlds.







And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one (OFaN) wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. 

The appearance of the (OFaNiM) wheels and their work like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work as it were a Npw) (OFaN) wheel in the middle of a אופן) (OFaN) wheel. (King James Bible, the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, 1: 14-16) The word אופן) OFaN means a wheel or an angel in Hebrew. In modern Hebrew אופניים) (OFaNaYieM) means bicycle. Please note: the bicycle wheel has 36 spokes, hence the bicycle has 72 spokes. As the Talmud Yerushalmi points out, 36 is a number that alludes to the supernatural light of creation, the special light that Adam had use of for 36 hours in the Garden of Eden before God hid it for the 36 Tzadikim in every future generation. Remember, according to the oral tradition of Judaism the ל"ו צדיקים Lamed Vav (36) Tzadikim, namely the 36 righteous persons, cannot be recognized and yet they are here to hold our world, as a mother holds her child. 

At all times there are 36 concealed Tzadikim and 36 revealed Tzadikim, together they correspond to the 72 Names of God, the force that links the concealed and the revealed worlds.

Some extra notes concerning:
אופן OFaN  (Wheel, Angel) 
אופנים (OFaNIM) 
OFaNIM is a plural word, which refers to more than one OFaN, angel or celestial being.
אופנים OFaNaYIM means Bicycle in Hebrew


Ezekiel's Wheel in St. John the Baptist Church in Kratovo, Macedonia. Fresco from the 19th century.

אופנים (OFaNaYiM)
6th century representation from Didron,
Christian Iconography.
Two burning wheels, wings, eyes, flames (Ezekiel 1)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkabah_mysticism

Copy of Matthäus Merian's engraving of Ezekiel's vision (1670).
Please note: on the left hand side of the image one can see the depiction of OFaN  - the wheel within a wheel - the Ezekiel’s vision of God’s chariot.


 A traveller puts his head under the edge of the firmament in the original (1888) printing of the Flammarion engraving. 
Please note: on the top left hand side of the image one can see the depiction of OFaN  - the wheel within a wheel - the Ezekiel’s vision of God’s chariot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flammarion_engraving

Marcel Duchamp Roue de bicyclette, (Bicycle Wheel), 1913 (original lost) Replica (5), 1964 Truing Stand, bicycle wheel, stool, Edition of 8, 127 cm high Galerie Schwarz, Milan Supervised by Marcel Duchamp

"....I liked the idea of having a bicycle wheel in my studio. I enjoyed looking at it, just as I enjoyed looking at the flames dancing in a fireplace. It was like having a fireplace in my studio, the movement of the wheel reminded me of the movement of flames.” 
(Marcel Duchamp in an interview with Arturo Schwarz circa 1960)





Marcel Duchamp Roue de bicyclette, (Bicycle Wheel), 1913

Please note: the original combination had a truing stand, not a front wheel fork. True – A situation in which a wheel or other rotating device such as a chain wheel is in proper lateral alignment. Truing stand – A bench – mounted device to hold bicycle wheels while they are being aligned – trued –. 

Marcel Duchamp: “The Bicycle Wheel is my first Readymade, so much so that at first it wasn’t even called a Readymade. It still had little to do with the idea of the Readymade. Rather it had more to do with the idea of chance. In a way, it was simply letting things go by themselves and having a sort of created atmosphere in a studio, an apartment where you live. Probably, to help your ideas come out of your head. To set the wheel turning was very soothing, very comforting, a sort of opening of avenues on other things than material life of every day. I liked the idea of having a bicycle wheel in my studio. I enjoyed looking at it, just as I enjoyed looking at the flames dancing in a fireplace. It was like having a fireplace in my studio, the movement of the wheel reminded me of the movement of flames.” 
(Marcel Duchamp in an interview with Arturo Schwarz circa 1960)






Monday, March 21, 2016

There is Water שם-מים ShaM MaYiM 1984

There is Water
שם-מים
ShaM MaYiM 1984

220x400x40 Cm.
2 iron parts and 4 bronze dogs
Collection: Bouwfonds Art Foundation, Hoevelaken, The Netherlands






BeGIN/ AKeDaH/ SeTaV/ KoaCh/ ZaR/ TzeL SeFaT/ EM, בגין עקדה סטו כח זר צל שפת אם ( Because of the binding/A road through pillars/Strange power/ The shadow of the Mother Tongue), 1987


BeGIN/ AKeDaH/ SeTaV/ KoaCh/ ZaR/ TzeL SeFaT/ EM, 
בגין עקדה סטו כח זר צל שפת אם
( Because of the binding/A road through pillars/Strange power/ The shadow of the Mother Tongue), 1987,

22 x iron parts based on the 22 x Hebrew Letters,  22 x (200x200x19) Cm.
22 x bronze skull of dogs
















GaV EL GaV (Back to Back) 1982

GaV EL GaV (Back to Back) 1982

The Symposium,  PLATO
ref., Aristophanes;
"There were three sexes: the all male, the all female, and the "androgynous," who was half male, half female."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symposium_(Plato)
http://outre-monde.com/2010/09/25/platonic-myths-the-myth-of-aristophanes/

Jewish tradition: 
Bereshit Rabah (8) When the holy one created Adam it was androgynous. 
God created Adam double face;
Adam and Eve were born simultaneously side-by-side, or back-to-back, attached like Siamese twins. As it says twice in Genesis, "male and female It created them." To separate them, in biblical language it says that God took one of Adam's "sides;" in zoharic language, it says, "God sawed Eve off from him." (For those who say Adam and Eve were attached back-to-back, this sawing is viewed as the cause of the bumps all humans have along the back of the spine.)
http://www.rabbidavidcooper.com/cooper-print-index/2010/11/8/2351-adam-and-eve-as-siamese-twins-n.html










The Guardians of the Door, Correction Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 1991.4.363 (1-5), 1989

The Guardians of the Door
Correction Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam  1991.4.363 (1-5), 1989 
Collection Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 
Iron, cast iron, H 45 Cm. 176 Cm.







Friday, March 18, 2016

The endless Shadow (Between Plato's Cave and the HeSTeR PaNIM of BeZaLEL) 1985




The endless Shadow
(Between Plato's Cave and the HeSTeR PaNIM of BeZaLEL) 1985
The forbiddance of creating art objects in the Jewish tradition, {ref., SheMOT 20 (1-5) , DeVaRIM 4 (15-24), DeVaRIM 5 (6-10) } is stating that the Jewish community should not create an image whether it is a carved-image 'PeSeL', or any figure 'TeMUNaH', in the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth, and therefore one should not bow to a man made art object.
And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; Exodus, SheMOT -  20 (1-5)
Here then is the enigma, who can explain what is a 'PeSeL' or what is a 'TeMUNaH', and who dares to define a work of art, and in particular what is an art work which has been designed and produced for The Western Project?
and what is Jewish Art? or Christian Art? or Secular Art? etc.,
One thing is clear, to declare oneself an 'artist', 
is just a small part of the grand scheme of 'The Western Project'. 
In this context then, each and every artwork on display in 'The Western Project', is a re-presentation of a certain veil, and it is itself symbolic. So, in a curious way, one might argue that the Artwork itself symbolizes the very principle of symbolism, or perhaps it is already always a re-presentation of a promise which cannot be defined, neither be achieved.
This then is the concept of HeSTeR PaNIM (The Hidden Face of - (God));
The idea which The Western Project sets out to explore, and at the same time trying to conceal from its public. 
To assume then, without further discussion, that the idea of the idea of "The Hidden Face" (HeSTeR PaNIM) is nothing else but the concealed Source-Text - A veiled perfect Typography which explains and at the same time supports, the Western concept of Mystery. A certain mystery which is only Readable, if it is not readable, that is to say, the impossibility of miracle(s) to be repeated.
So, by returning to the question of what art means in the strategic plan of The Western Project, we should accept that each and every art work on display, is an extremely complex relationship between tradition, folk art, ritual art, mythology, spoken language, written language, and the very obscure vibrating horizon which defies as it were, the area behind The Western Project.
And in our context,
one must remember and to explore the significance behind
the foundation of the modern State of Israel. 
In this condition, then, the act of using symbols, and in particular Jewish symbols in the landscape of The Western Project - is becoming both, a fact and a fiction. 
Similarly, by the specific gesture of calling a certain artwork on display, a Jewish Art, or a Christian Art, or even a Secular Art, the public is forced to reflect upon it merely by obeying to a certain (accepted) Laws. 
And precisely because of this problem of obeying, that we must deliberately put into question, and to resist at all times, the list of vows which were created and designed by The Western Project.
This however bring us Back to Back with Plato's Cave, 
and with BeZaLEL's HeSTeR PaNIM. 

Please note:
the name of BeZaLEL is commonly translated as
"In the Shadow of God" or "In the protection of God". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezalel
As often as not,
once a Name becomes a place, but cannot perceive itself without a PeSeL or a TeMUNaH, the Name itself will be represented as a symbolic structure. That is to say, that in our contemporary Cave, the artwork which has been designed and produced by BeZaLEL, is nothing but a system of an ever changing 'Measurement in M
OED'. (Measurement in; Appointed time, Place, or Meeting).
In other words, the artwork which has been created by BeZaLEL, is in 
matter of fact, a system that calculates on a daily basis, the distance between the Shadow on the wall and the WALL itself. 
And in order to appreciate the significance of BeZaLEL's HeSTeR PaNIM in our contemporary reading, it is perhaps necessary, first of all, to look in details into the very layout, and the programmes of The Western Project. 
Therefore, one must proceed as one does - to look for the Source-Text; i.e., SeFaT EVer which is always being located behind the mechanical veiling of the Western concept of Mystery - The concept of Mystery as it emerges and exposes itself in The Western Project, till this very day. 
And step by step, of course, one must try and disentangle the notion of one's secular thought, from the complex impulses of Faith which appears to dominate our creative need.
To begin with, 
one should remember that the production and the displaying of an artwork in the context of The Western Project, is a certain responsibility, for it is inherently political, and this is regardless of the intentions or the motives which makes the breathing of the OTHER readable.
Joseph Semah, 1985

Friday, March 11, 2016

Amsterdam of Above / Amsterdam of the Below, May 4, 2010

Amsterdam of Above / Amsterdam of the Below 
(Observatorium Felix Meritis, Amsterdam) 4 May, 2010
A wooden table, white cotton fabric, 6 x chessboard, 36 x wine glass, 22 x light bulb,  75 x 550 x 450 


Amsterdam of Above / Amsterdam of the Below  On 4 May, 2010

On 4 May, 2010 - Commemoration Day, we witnessed the transformation of commemorating to celebrating Liberation Day in a very special performance by Joseph Semah. 
One of the oldest observatories in Western Europe is located on top of Felix Meritis, above the roofs of Amsterdam. From the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th, the wealthy bourgeoisie studied the starry skies from there. At night the gentlemen pointed the telescopes upwards to the sky; during the day they peered downwards to observe the city and its bustle.
On top of the observatory of Felix Meritis on May 4, 2010, the transformation took place from commemorating to celebrating Liberation Day in a performance inspired by basic values such as freedom and democracy within our pluriform society. High above the city an intriguing meeting took place between twelve representatives of the arts, religion, politics, civil society, business and science, with the help of Steve Austen, Linda Bouws, Hedy d'Ancona , Ab Cherribi, Sinan Cihangir, Nelleke Noordervliet, Fokkelien Oosterwijk, Farid Tabarki, Jan Voss, Sigal Weissbein-Rozman, Julia Winter, Auke van der Berg and Jom Semah
The action is based on Baruch Spinoza, Tractatus Theologico-Politicus; the text was read in Latin, English, Hebrew, Arabic, Dutch, French, Russian, Turkish and German languages. The Felix Meritis motto, Connecting Cultures, was the central theme.




An introduction to the principle of relative expression (Jerusalem Surrounded by Mountains) 1990

An introduction to the principle of relative expression
(Jerusalem Surrounded by Mountains) 1990

Please note: The form of the copper water pipes ( ref., the combination of the 25 copper water pipes on the floor) is based on the outline of the old city walls of Jerusalem. 
The length of the walls is 4.5 - 5 Km.








Friday, March 4, 2016

When a name becomes a place 1987 Amsterdam (When a name becomes a place), 1985


When a name becomes a place, 1987
Brass, bronze 30 x 520 Cm.



The MeNORaH,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menorah_(Temple) (the seven branched candleholder) has been left with its pouring cup, and the system of sprues, as they were at the moment of casting.


Drawing of the (original) MeNORaH, made by RaMBaM / Maimonides (1138-1204), in the Oxford manuscript of 'Commentary to the Mishnah' (Menachot ch. 3)
Please note:
the MeNORaH depicted on the Arch of Titus, Rome, should be explained as the image of the wax sprues which were attached to the positive replica of the original MeNORaH. 
Therefore, the seven branched candleholder depicted on the Arch, is as a matter of fact, a representation of the wax rods, the treelike wax spures which were added to the positive replica of the MeNORaH before the casting.
It is crucial to remember, that the sprues are removed after the casting, and the object is polished.

The Arch of Titus, Via Sacra, Rome



This is what the doubling of MaKOM designating, 
the sum-total of Measurement in MOED.
And in so far as the doubling of MaKOM is a projection of itself, 
the promise which has been made in GaLUT is the rule, much rather than the exception. This is most obvious, GaLUT is a written text, a readable but a concealed architectural plan, a repetitive gesture for which purpose is to over come the absence of MaKOM.

Please note: the word  מועד MOED in Hebrew means - Appointed time, Specific time, Specific date ; Commemorative date. 

Amsterdam
(When a name becomes a place), 1985
Bronze, brass, walking stick (...for blind person),
20 x 70 x 105 Cm.