VERTICAL PARTITION 2 - SPACE

The installation is dealing with “vertical partition of space” as introduced by Eyal Weizman in his book: “Hollow Land: Israel’s Architecture of Occupation”. In short, he describes how at the negotiating table between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, proposals are raised by Israel where the borders between one sovereignty and the other are set on horizontal plains which cut space vertically, and separate the control over the air above the ground from control on the ground itself and the underground resources below it.

The work takes this concept that redefines normal conception of vertical space of action, and transposes it onto the level of the individual BODY/SPACE, while looking into the question of visibility of the new structure – a structure of oppression – in a general context of the visibility of “otherness” under the contemporary nation-state.

The question of visibility arose in relation to the concepts of “concurred violence” verses “erupting violence” as defined by Ariella Azoulay and Adi Ophir in their book: This Regime Which is Not One – Occupation and Democracy Between the Sea and the River (1967 – ). Azoulay and Ophir reconceptualise the discussion around the occupation, and as part of it define 3 different modes of violence, trying to explain why the horrible daily conditions of the occupation do not gain visibility, but only an attempt to break this reality by protest, gives visibility to the violence.

In “Vertical Partition #2 – Space” the limitation on the erect body is applied to the exhibition space. The conditions for the public and performer are the same. A camera using a movement sensitive program activates the sound system whenever there is an erect body moving in the space. The performer here functions as a guide exhibiting how to “live” in the space.