TEL AVIV.- Time is an abstract, elusive, hard to define or understand entity. The assumption that the passing of time already marks events in the future that become present and then exist in the past - is arbitrary and does not reflect time as an infinite constant. According to Étienne Klein, a philosopher of science, there are some categories of time that are classified more palpable than others. A common distinction would be between physical time, thought of as objective, and between psychological time, considered more subjective and illusory. A vast amount of research about the concept of time demonstrated that some situations or events, such as frustration, boredom, danger or awaiting, actually prolong the sense of time, often to an extreme. On October 7th, our sense of time changed and the infinite constant of time stopped. It seems as if life as we knew it paused; “The Old World” got lost somewhere in the past, while the future seemed obscure, as we were left with a present continuous, alert and alarmed at the prospects of what is to come. Our need to regain (alleged) control over our lives has found us scrolling unstoppably while continuously staring at our screens for the news.

The work OMG It's the Guy from TV by Noy and Tamir was created in December, after two months of creative muteness. Their colorful ceramic relief depicts situations appropriated from the media that become a form of a collage of consciousness. A soldier standing at the center of the rubble in Gaza, holding the rainbow flag with the inscription “In the name of love”; tunnels-caves from which weird faces emerge, with guns next to them; “talking heads” staring at us from a variety of screens. The renaissance style of the relief stands in contrast to its very format and the medium of TV.

The exhibition features recent pieces by Liat Elbling from her decade long project Men in Suit. In this series, male characters - like politicians, leaders and businessmen - appear faceless but are still identifiable and look familiar. Elbling faithfully collects photographs of men from printed media, and with meditative, repetitive labor she cuts off their faces and replaces them with exact grid collages and an overall graphic look. This power based manhood emanating from her pieces is a call for action - reflecting the need for more women in leadership positions and to gain access to decision makers roles.

In a new video work, Tamir Zadok takes apart Kadishman’s iconic sculpture from Habima square, where it had been standing for decades, defying all laws of nature. Zadok, along with two other men, are seen rolling away the three large steel wheels of the sculpture in supermarket carts that are too narrow to hold them, on the dunes far from Tel Aviv. Zadok, whose work deconstructs cultural and historic symbols and raises questions of identity and nationality, asks to discombobulate the local canonical sculpture, and by so doing, to echo the deconstruction of sculptures of iconic leaders around the globe. It has been exactly a year since the protest movement against the judicial reform first started in the square of Habima. As the movement grew, it allocated to Kaplan area and to many other areas throughout the country. After the war broke, the protests have changed their cause in support of the hostages and their families. In recent weeks, carefully and gradually, the protest in Habima square is resuming, right at the place where it first began.

Curator: Maya Frenkel Tene