Moving Images: Israeli Video Art in Context

Fine Arts Seminar FA 175a - Fall 2016

MOVING IMAGES: ISRAELI VIDEO ART IN CONTEXT Gannit Ankori, PhD

Tentative Outline of Seminar Thursdays 2-5 pm

Still shot from video by Oded Hirsch, Tochka, 2010

Instructor: Gannit Ankori, PhD,

Summary:

Israeli video artists have become world renowned for their innovative contributions to the genre. Their path-breaking videos are featured in the most prestigious venues across the globe to great critical acclaim.

This phenomenon has been recently observed by New York Times art critic, Roberta Smith, who wrote: "Small though it is, Israel has been providing more than its share of artistic talent to the global art circuit, especially where video and performance art are concerned." (NYT, 08/12/2010, Arts, p. 12)

In this course we will view, analyze and interpret Israeli video art, tracing its historical and ‘genealogical’ trajectory, thematic foci, formal concerns, iconographical sources and the diverse regional, political, and art historical contexts within which it is being produced and exhibited.

The title of the course, “Moving Images,” deliberately alludes to both the literal and figurative attributes of Israeli video art – its use of visual images in motion, and its profound emotive affect.

Course outline: Introduction: a. Staging the discursive foundations for the course:

- Discussions about the medium; national identity (‘Israeliness’); and the variety of genres and sub-genres that include ‘moving images’. b. Exploring the contexts:

- Charting the development of video art and its place in the contemporary art world. - Mapping the history of Israeli art, film, photography and culture in the 20th and 21st centuries. Emphasis will be placed on the influence of European and US art on contemporary Israeli artists who work in traditional media and genres (e.g., painting and sculpture) in contrast with the innovative achievements of Israeli artists who work in photography, new media and video art. - Delineating the history of Israeli television and television in Israel from 1968 to the present and its impact on video artists. - Moving images in the Middle East: relevant historical milestones and ideological tenets (from propaganda films to youtube; from representation to self-representation).

Part I: Excavating ‘Inter-Visuality’ This section will focus on the work of Yael Bartana and Oded Hirsch. Both created monumental ‘trilogies’ that allude to a variety of visual sources, including Zionist propaganda films that glorify the early pioneers who till the soil and build the Land of Israel; photographs commissioned by the Jewish National Fund; Russian and German films from the early twentieth century; Zionist posters that attempt to visualize utopian ideals, the kibbutz community, and a national ethos; and more.

Videography: Yael Bartana  Summer Camp (2007)  Polish Trilogy: Mary Koszmary (Nighmares, 2007); Mur i Wieza (Wall and Tower, 2009); Zamach (Assassination, 2011) Oded Hirsch  Trilogy: 50 Blue (2009 ); Tochka (2010 ); Nothing New (2012)  Habaita (2010); Tractor (2014)

Part II: Rites of Passage: Performance-based Video Art as Alternative Ritual

In this section of the course, we’ll analyze and interpret video pieces that display a performative action by the artist. A variety of repetitive symbolic acts or gestures, are theorized in this context as ‘alternative rituals’ that are often related to gender and religion.

Videography: Examples will include work by:  Nelly Agassi  Jumana Emil Abboud  Raeda Saadeh  Raida Adon  Shuli Nachshon  Hila Lulu Lin

Part III: Documenting Borders and Boundaries Exploring the cleavages and tensions that characterize Israeli society and identity – this section will be devoted to artists who work in a genre that both derives and deviates from documentary film.

Videography: Yael Bartana  Trembling Time (2001) Nira Pereg  Mandatory Passage (2012-13)  Sabbath (2008)  Kept Alive (2009-10) Efrat Vital  Quiet Beach-Haifa Base (2011)

Part IV: ‘Dis-Orientalism’: Reconfigurations of East and West

Prevailing political discourse purports and perpetuates a ‘clash of civilizations’ conceived as an unbridgeable and dichotomous schism between East and West.

Art proposes alternative ways of imagining the relationship between east and west, refusing monolithic and dichotomous structures; creating liminal spaces that hybridize or imaginatively reconfigure elements of culture, religion and identities.

Videography: Hila Lulu Lin and Hanna Fouad Farah  V7 (2006) Nira Pereg  Sarah Sarah, Abraham Abraham (2012) Nevet Yitzhak:  The Orient Express (2013) and other works Dor Guez:  Subaru-Mercedes (2009)  July 13 (2009)  (Sa)mira (2009)  Watermelons under the Bed (2010)  Sabir (2011)  Pioneer Tree (2011) Part V: Abstracting: Non-Narrative Knowledge

The final section of the course will move beyond narrative video art to explore pieces that are based on abstract, formal, imagistic or symbolic expression

Videography: Sigalit Landau Yehudit Sasportas Adam Berg

Part VI: Expanding the Field – in lieu of conclusions

In the final module of this course we’ll revisit and challenge the categories we proposed, exploring work by artists who reimagine the medium.

Clustered around thematic or symbolic foci – we’ll explore art that deals with dominant themes pertaining to Israeli identity – but in oblique or unexpected ways.

The Land (e.g., Yael Bartana, Kings of the Hill (2003), Gilad Ratman, Boggyman and The Workshop (2012-13)

The Holocaust (e.g., Michal Rovner, Roee Rosen, Boaz Arad, Yael Bartana)

Work and Manual Labor (e.g., Mika Rottenberg vs. Oded Hirsch)

Fruit of the Earth Poignant symbols of the homeland and rootedness – e.g., the olive tree, the cactus, the watermelon, the pomegranate – the fruit of the earth are ubiquitous motifs in both Israeli and Palestinian art, appearing in early 20th century paintings and in contemporary video art. Unlike most of the paintings that accentuate the idyllic beauty of the rural landscape or the symbolic link to the homeland through flora and fauna, contemporary video art merges emblems of belonging with the violence that has been ever present in the region. (e.g., Sigalit Landau, Masik (2012); Four Entered a Grove (2012); A Tree Standing (2012); DeadSee (2005); Standing on a Watermelon in the Dead Sea (2005); Jumana Emil Abboud, Pomegranate (2005); Smuggling Lemons (2006); Ori Gersht, Pomegranate (2006)]

Requirements and grading:

Class attendance and participation 20% Readings, short assignments, work groups 30% Midterm project 20% Final project 30%

Four-Credit Course (with three hours of class-time per week) Success in this 4 credit course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week on average in preparation for class (readings, papers, projects, discussion sections, preparation for exams, etc.). Select Bibliography

There is no textbook for this course. Background readings will be recommended. Specific texts, websites and videos on individual artists will be posted on LATTE.

Background reading:  Hutchinson, John and Anthony D. Smith, eds., Nationalism, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1994  Rabinovich, Itamar and Jehuda Reinharz, eds., Israel in the Middle East: Documents and Readings on Society, Politics, And Foreign Relations, Pre-1948 to the Present, Waltham: Brandeis University Press, 2008.  Said, Edward, Orientalism, New York, 1978.

Israeli Art History:  New York, The Jewish Museum, In the Shadow of Conflict: Israeli Art 1980-1989, May 10- August 6, 1989 (exh. cat.)  Kampf, Avram, Jewish Experience in the Art of the Twentieth Century, South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey, 1984, pp. 144-175.  Ofrat, Gideon, One Hundred Years of Israel Art, Boulder: Westview, 1998, pp. 21-33.  Zalmona, Ygal, Artists of Israel, 1920-1980, the Jewish Museum, New York, 1981 (exh. cat.) with essays by Moshe Barasch and Ygal Zalmona

Film and Music:  Loshitzky, Yosefa, Identity Politics on the Israeli Screen, Austin, University of Texas Press, 2002.  Regev, Motti and Edwin Seroussi, Popular Music and National Culture in Israel, Berkeley, University of California Press, 2004.  Shohat, Ella, Israeli Cinema: East/West and the Politics of Representation, Austin, University of Texas Press, 1989.

Arab artists from Israel:  Ankori, Gannit, Palestinian Art, London, 2006, chapter 8.

Select catalogue essays on video art, individual artists, websites will be assigned throughout the course.

Class Policies

In order to have an environment conducive to learning and keep us all engaged and focused – students asked to follow the policies below:

Cell phones: Use of cell phones in class (for talking, texting, reading/writing email, or any other purpose) is prohibited. Kindly keep your cell phones turned off and stowed away in class. However, if you need to leave your cell phone on because of an ongoing emergency situation, please speak to me at the start of class. Laptops: Kindly keep your laptop turned off and stowed away in class. Using laptop computers in class is distracting to me and other students, in part because the temptation to take “just a second” to check email or web updates is hard to resist. Attendance Policy : Attendance is mandatory. You are expected to come to class on time. Unexcused absences will result in a lower grade. More than 5 unexcused absences may result in a failing mark. If you have to miss class or to be late for class for a legitimate reason, kindly let me know without delay.