Artist Gal Weinstein questions the mythological and romantic images of Zionism embedded in Israel's collective memory. For the 57th Venice Art Biennale, he used glue, mold, metal, and felt to transform the interior of his home country's shining white pavilion into a monument to decay. Weinstein's site-specific installation titled "Sun Stand Still" artificially and organically altered the space to convey the inexorable melancholy and malaise that pervades one of the world’s most deeply contested landscapes.
As you listen the conversation we recorded in 2017 with curator Tami Katz-Freiman, keep in mind mounting tensions in the Middle East today. Consider the larger question of how nations choose to represent themselves in the context of the high profile Venice Art Biennale. Weinstein's work testifies to the enduring power of art to serve as portent and marker of change.
Sound Editor: Anamnesis Audio | Images: Courtesy Israeli Pavilion and Fresh Art International
Related episodes:
Sounds of the Venice Art Biennale 2017
http://www.freshartinternational.com/2017/05/17/live-radio-sounds-from-the-venice-biennale-2017/
Lisa Reihanna on Reversing the Colonial Gaze
http://www.freshartinternational.com/2017/10/19/lisa-reihana-reversing-colonial-gaze/
Samson Young on Songs for Disaster Relief
http://www.freshartinternational.com/2017/11/02/samson-young-songs-disaster-relief/
Related links:
Israeli Pavilion at the 57th Venice Art Biennale
http://www.katzfreiman.com/exhibitions/gal-weinstein-sun-stand-still/
Gal Weinstein
http://gal-weinstein.com/
Tami Katz-Freiman
http://www.katzfreiman.com/
