16 VI - 7 VII 2000
To the Artists of the Twentieth Century
Melbourne, 1998, 20 toilets, hight: 8,40 m
The "112 Portraits - Front and Back" project seemed like a perfectly organic way of continuing the project for which I had come to Melbourne in March 1998. It was there that I contributed a sculpture, "To the Artists of the Twentieth Century" (the toilet column) at the event entitled "The Bridge Construction in Process". I was surrounded by artists and their assistants from many varied places worldwide. I was challenged by the possibility of playing a game with myself and with them and at the same time creating a work that would perpetuate their presence long after we had all left Melbourne. In order to mark the event, I improvised a "street studio" composed of a chair and a school blackboard, and invited people at the event to sit for me. I asked only that each person write their name on the board and then take up a pose of their choice. I then photographed them from the front and the back. It was an intended egalitarian approach in which all sitters would take on an identity imposed by the situation - no airs and graces. Nonetheless, I believe that the body language of each individual and the handwriting is what creates the dynamic tension between all these supposedly "same" images. Well, of course the game is now to create an added dimension. We will have the images placed randomly on a large wall - meaning that the backs and fronts will not match up. We will have a physical encounter where these very same people will have to search for themselves and their colleagues, thus extending the work from the wall to the level of human communication. It is my personal contribution to the people who make these "Construction in Process" events so memorable.
Avraham Eilat
Photography from exhibitions
Photography from exhibitions
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Copyright ©2000 Avraham Eilat, Galeria FF £DK
