OPTICS OF VALUE
December 2021, Joint Exhibition
A/C Buddha (The Banality of the Basic Need), InstallationFair pricing. Authentic branding. Humane tech. Impact investments.
Art direction. Neutral language. A zen garden made of plastic.
These oxymorons inspire the works of Ruth Kedem and Irit Sternberg, two artists whose mutual path paradoxically began with an attempt to co-found a startup. In “The Optics of Value”, a self-curated joint exhibition, they address the idea of “value” as a double edged sword: how economic value and ethical values merge and collide. In the mediums of photography, drawing and installation Ruth and Irit focus on the impossible-yet-indispensable: the freedom of the spirit within the strict boundaries of the material world.
The drawing series “Mutable Objects” was created during a “disconnection retreat”, 48 hours without any digital devices. In the drawings, Irit tries to bring maximal attention to the material world. She focuses on objects that change in an apparent manner as they transform the “user”, appreciating the possibility of fair play. Without the digital noise, drawing from observation becomes a meditative practice that returns long lost attention and honor to inanimate objects.
A question arises: has living analogue become the ultimate radical act?
Irit’s installations deal with two movements: spirituality turning into a commodity, while commerce turns into the subject of worship.
“AC Buddha (The Banality of the Basic Need)” is an homage to the “TV Buddha” installations by the Korean artist Nam June Paik.With the fading of the techno-optimism that dominated the end of the 20th century, and in the shadow of excessive consumption, our imagination of the future is infused with insecurity about the most basic needs.
The Totem Pole, made of cardboard packages of products bought online, questions the sanctity of our next purchase.
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