My Savior, Yardenit 2024
solo exhibition ,Barbur gallery, curator: Dafna Falk
Following a crisis, I decided to go on a real sailing trip along the Jordan River into the baptism site the Yardenit. For the purpose of the journey I have built a system of floating sculptures. The sculptures are mix of aesthetics moving between the appearance of a lifeboat, floating garbage remains and Christian pilgrimage tourism. Moving between the theatrical (damsel in distress), pop (Jesus) and seriousness (crisis).
link to an article about the exhibition:
https://www.les-nouveaux-riches.com/interview-deborah-fischer/
Anchor, Concrete casting, metal hook, 30 x 25 x 25 cm, photo by : Matan Meirson
"My head is in the river to receive clarity of thought. I invite Jesus to come to me like a beautiful merman while I am being swept away in this river of life, which once received his body and made room for him in its form (womb). What lies beyond the wave? The horizon always moves like in a free-fall. to digest in the winding path toward Jerusalem".
Life Jacket, water-repellent fabric, reflective fabric, silk screen print, foamed polyurethane, black straps and clips, 60 x 40 x 15 cm, photo by : Matan Meirson
From the exhibition text by Dafna Falk the curator:
Deborah descends to the Jordan River. She intermingles and blends into the environment, attempting to infiltrate, integrate, redeem, receive an omen or at least a sign. Deborah’s actions are mischievous. They are impulses of a subservient yet defiant soul, which ultimately receive form and substance. Sculptures and strange accessories accompany her on her journey. These objects carry symbols of faith and divinity, purity and renewal, love and innocence. They don a serious expression and a halo of sanctity, floating and sinking in tepid waters, carried by the flow. They fulfill an internal inversion and create dual meaning, turning the sites of the Jordan and the people within them into figures of a spiritual fantasy.
White Lie, styrofoam hand in the position of crossed fingers, red electrical tape, 150 x 55 x 50 cm , photo by : Matan Meirson
The Jordan river is the protagonist in this drama. It is an ancient source of life where souls from all corners of the earth gather to immerse themselves. In its winding path towardJerusalem, it invites Christian pilgrims alongside local families to rest on its banks. The pilgrims are motivated by the force of love, guided by an inner voice that directs them to the divine collective. For them, the baptismal ceremony symbolizes purification and grace.
"And he said to them, go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (The Gospel According to Mark 16:16 right perenthesis quotes)
Mercy, plastic bottles blown into an aluminum mold in the shape of a fetus, bottle size 15 x 7 x 9 cm photo by : Matan Meirson
Mercy, Fetus Banar Yardenit, video photage by : Matan Meirson
This is the promise of the believer to follow the path of the savior and thus to be reborn under the holy covenant. Acceptance of Jesus' love from above is also total surrender. In the love subplot in Shakespeare's tragedy "Hamlet" the tragic hero is the fickle and treacherous prince, who derives some satisfaction from his ability to deceive his innocent and loving Ophelia. In the face of betrayal and loss, Ophelia's shattered faith leads her to madness and pastoral death, drowning while murmuring a song of sorrow and grief. The song of Deborah is a different song. Clad in her wedding dress, she does not allow herself to merge completely into the landscape. The fallen bride, in her last hope, clings to an orange life-jacket, which returns light from the face of her lost love. The returning light from the life-jacket calls on us, to the other – save me! But the original source of light itself strikes with blindness.
Qedesha Alef, a relief on limestone, 46 x 68 x 10 cm, photo by : Matan Meirson and Raz Sintova
The peace that surrounds her is constantly disturbed by tourist plastic from a family barbecue and kayaking from the fabricated native American village. In the Yardenit souvenir shop, plastic embryos filled with "Jordan river water" await sale. The souvenir, in its modesty, seeks to evoke the sanctity of the experience and thus grants it eternal validity. The internal story of the experience replaces consumer content with the content of authenticity. Therefore the memory is being transferred beyond the present horizon where only the pastoral, the exotic, and other fantasies come to fruition. The embryo shaped plastic bottles echo the ticking of the biological clock- reminding of unrealized union.
Love is not a possibility, is not due to our initiative, is without reason; it invades and wounds us, and nevertheless the I survives in it. (Levinas, Time and the Other, Trans. Richard A Cohen, 1987)
At the Yardenit site, photo by : Matan Meirson
Photography tries to capture the moment that cannot be captured. It illuminates but does not touch. It belongs only to itself. Within this loop, the selfie is eternal. Yet finding love is not a trivial matter. Is true love possible? Meeting someone else means struggle. The body learns to defend itself. In "face to face" combat, they learn to find the most painful and effective pressure points on the way to neutralizing the enemy (or lover). Trying to predict the enemy's move in preparation for contact, the encounter with the other is no longer a threat but a playground with something ephemeral, without pattern or plan. It consists of promises that are flowing and abundant, which opens up new perspectives on the incomprehensible. The thrust toward the other is a gift for a pure, unknown future
A lesson in self-defense, plastic molding, a pair of cell phones, a video, 45 x 25 x 20 cm photo by: Nevo Revivo
David, Ink print, chrome paper, metal, 60 x 60 x 5 cm, photo by: Nevo Revivo
Bait, bread in the shape of mating peacocks was baked in a concrete mold, Tv screen, video 7:00 min. Loaf size: 33 x 33 x 5 cm, photo by: Nevo Ravivo
As part of the exhibition an artist talk followed by a self-defense lesson was held in the gallery space. The lesson was accompanied by DJ Lior Pinsky.
"On blue exercise mattresses alongside the artworks, we will discuss the creative process, tourism, authenticity, trickery, love, faith, sexuality, and femininity in the technological world. Led by the curator and together with guide Omri, we will discuss personal security and practice physical contact, boundaries, and maximum utilization of bodily strength in the Jiu-Jitsu tradition. "
The evening was possible thanks to the support of the Jerusalem Culture Unlimited association
