The exhibition explores states of listening. The objects address—both directly and indirectly—the range of possibilities through which sound can be perceived (in consciousness). A knock on wood tests whether the wood is hollow or solid. Touching an object tests its stability. Feeling the work surface generates noise and vibration and registers texture.
Hearing impairment has been, and remains, an essential part of my life. I have always depended on an external authority to determine how much I hear. In a surgery I underwent in childhood, the hearing area was cleared (exposed) to the doctors’ satisfaction, without it being explained to me that this procedure would result in the loss of my hearing.
The sculptural objects are made from construction timber and other reclaimed woods. They are built in a way that creates an illusion of visual depth and are perceived as either flat or volumetric. Through cutting, subtraction, sanding, or thinning parts of the objects, a disruption of the illusion is produced.
The wooden surfaces are sanded down to a thin layer that evokes the eardrum, whose biological function in the auditory mechanism is to respond to sound waves; its vibrations reach tiny sensory cells that are ultimately sent to the brain and interpreted as sound. Similarly, the surface in the work is stretched to receive vibrations.
A sound work by artist Roi Regev is embedded in an object composed of two cones that open outward, inviting the viewer to look inside them and listen to the sounds.
Curator: Galia Gur Zeev
