My life-long interest in photography explores nature, storytelling, and capturing situations which can elicit a response or start a conversation. Water is a dominant theme in my work. There are many reasons why I am attracted to water which is essential to our very existence - it’s power, it’s luminescence, it’s changing colors, what it can hide and what it can reveal, how it can nurture and how it can destroy. For the P2G project, I selected a photograph that was taken at a site called Seal Rocks in thePacific Ocean on the northwestern edge of San Francisco. The Hebrew word MAYIM (water) encompasses my theme. Historically the word MAYIM first appears in Genesis 1:2 of the Bible. The shapes of the first and last letter “MEM” derives its origin from the Egyptian hieroglyph that resembles a triangle wave which, I noticed, relates to the shape of the rocks in my photograph. I titled my photo MEM which has many layers of meaning to me. Many of them I didn’t even realize until I started reading the source materials that were suggested by the organizers of the “P2G” project. Here are some of the references that added meaning to my selection in weaving together Judaism, Art, and Science. The Hebrew word for water is MAYIM, which begins and ends with the letter MEM, is the 13th letter in the Hebrew alphabet and relates to the age of Bar Mitzvah. In Gematria (Jewish numerology) MEM has the value of 40 which has many significant associations such as: the number of days of the great flood at the time of Noah, the number of years in the Jews wandered in the wilderness, the 40 days Moses was upon Mt. Sinai. Even the etymology of Moses’ name has to do with water in that he was drawn out of the river Nile by the pharaoh’s daughter and so named. Visualizing the Hebrew word for water, MAYIM, also brought me back to a very special personal memory.When I was a little girl, I loved copying Hebrew letters . My Zadie taught me the “Aleph Bet” before I knew how to read English or Hebrew. I’d sit with him at the kitchen table in my grandparents’ house and practice writing my letters in a little notebook while watching Zadie wrap tefillin and then daven the morning prayers. I cherish the memory of those times. There are many significant associations with water as a meaningful symbol in my life. I was born and raised in Duluth Minnesota which is situated at the western tip of Lake Superior, the largest fresh water lake in the world. I spent my early 20’s exploring California while living in Los Angeles, along the southern California coast of the Pacific Ocean. My first visit to Israel in 1969 was living and working as a volunteer at Kibbutz Shaar Hagolan which is located along the eastern edge of the Dan River and very near the Sea of Galilee to the north. My photography interests have also been fed by the richness of the Big Island of Hawaii where I have visited many times and lived on the Hamakua Coast of the Pacific Ocean with its glorious view right out our window. I currently live in St. Paul, Minnesota where my house is very near the mighty Mississippi River which runs from the northern tip of Minnesota to Louisiana and into the Gulf of Mexico. I like to think that MAYIM has guided my photographic eye along the way. Re-art Work Anatt Friedman – Re-Art כַּחֹמֶר בְּיַדהַיּוֹצֵר “Just like Clay in the Hands of the Potter” My re-art relates to inner freedom vs. external limitations. The power of imagination and the ability to create a rich and colorful space in our inner world even when reality limits our expression or we are dealing with disabilities. Which materials do I use to create my life? What can I control? What can’t I control? Flowing with the stream? Flowing against the stream? Finding balance Art acts as a bridge between the inner and the outer world, enabling us to look at the movement of life from another perspective. This re-art is a mix-media piece which combines plastic art painting with photography and a digital process. Cathy Tobias – Re-Art Restore - A Sea of Humanity The faces with their mouths open and expressions of shock are from an exhibit in the Jewish Museum Berlin. The exhibit features a sea of 10,000 metal, screaming faces piled on the floor representing the innocent victims of war and violence. As I walked on them, the metal faces clang loudly and echoed in the huge, high ceilings of the room with an eerie sense of the inhuman treatment and abuse of power. The disturbing sounds resonated in the void spaces with the absence of a once vibrant culture and world where human rights and lives were irreverently cast into the sea. I felt a peculiar sense of walking on an open sea of discarded people, being tossed about with the waves and current, washing them out to the center of the sea to be forgotten. The man looking on in the shadows, stands in awe of the impact of the events occurring in front of him. His size pales in the scale of the enormity of the landscape confronting him. Water is a powerful cleanser, and purifier. What will it take to restore the clarity, flow, and essential life giving properties to the tainted waters? How do we prevent repeating the dark sides of history and learn how to respect and preserve the sanctity of all humanity? David Sherman – Re-Art Bereishit Linda’s image is reminiscent of the creation story as told in first words or the Torah, in Bereishit. Her image calls to mind the peacefulness that must have existed as god’s creation work was completed and the rest and contemplativeness of the first Shabbat was beginning. ויכלו השמים והארץ וכל-צבאם Now the heavens and the earth were completed and all their host. Bereishet 2:1 Creation is a mystery. I turn to my Jewish faith to find meaning behind what science explains. The earth orbits the sun. The moon orbits the earth. The times of daily sunrise and sunset and the shape of the moon in the sky are determined by the tilt of the earth. Within creation, god created occasions in the form of eclipses to disrupt us from our complacency in the regularity of the rhythm, pattern and balance of our world. Linda’s image is composited with my image of a lunar eclipse. The re-art simultaneously marks creation and the reminder to celebrate it. Pazit Assouline – Re-Art Man vs. Nature Fisherman in front of a stormy sea Israel | Palmahim beach | Sunset The Glory of Creation | Human The Glory of Creation | Nature | Endless Sea How small are we | facing nature What are my problems in the big picture Nature | State | Religion Roni Shechber – Re-Art MEM How does man experience nature? Does he have a choice? Man is small compared to nature, but nature can be as pleasant as the water or threatening as the rocks. The water can also become dangerous like in the flood story, And the rock can be a safe haven. There is a light that accompanies the image, this light can represent "supreme providence" or "destiny". Return Click to set custom HTML
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Are faith and science compatible? Irreconcilable? How can we weave together our religious beliefs with the world dominated by science and technology in which we live? With our God-given faculties: intelligence, wisdom and understanding, discernment, insight.
אתה חונן לאדם דעת ומלמד לאנוש בינה וחננו מאתך דעה ובינה והשכל.
ברוך אתה הי חונן הדעת
You graciously endow mortals with intelligence,
teaching wisdom and understanding.
Grant us knowledge, discernment and wisdom.
Praised are you, Lord who graciously grants insight.
This is the first brakha of the daily Amidah, the core of all weekday prayer services. In it, we ask God for knowledge, discernment and wisdom. Even as we acknowledge God as the source of all wisdom, we praise God for granting humankind the ability to gain insight, to employ knowledge, to grow in understanding:
There is no need to reconcile Judaism and science. God has endowed humans with the gift of the mind and calls upon us to use it.
My image חונן הדעת, is a reflection of my work as a portrait and fashion photographer. The model is ethereal and graceful in her movement, almost unearthly while literally embodying the words of this prayer.
Re-Art Work
Anatt Friedman - Re-Art
Vulnerable vs. Protected
The outer wrapping- covers, guards, cloaks, blurs, silences?
And knowledge? Faith?
A dialog between the opaque, the transparent and what lies
between them
Cathy Tobias – Re-Art
Rising
Rising
The celestial, ethereal, graceful woman emerges
delicately, lightly, airily, from the earth, and flowing waters.
She is rising, one with g-d’s creation,
endowed with wisdom, knowledge, insight, and discernment,
blending into the world with her faith, endeavors, and discoveries,
choosing what impact she is inspired to create in the world.
Pazit Assouline - Re-Art
Creation
Knowledge
חונן הדעת
The wisdom of Creation
FEMININITY
Free | Beautiful | Young | Dancing
The wisdom IN Creation
Continuity | Fertility | Pregnant |
From A girl to A woman
Linda Passon-McNally - Re-Art
Channeling Venus
As I pondered the beautiful image of the model in David Sherman’s photo entitled “Chonein HaDaat”, something from my Art History 101 class in college tugged at my memory. Then I found it: the 15th century painting “The Birth of Venus” by Sandro Botticelli. The graceful stance, the flowing hair, the serene facial expression of David Sherman’s model are qualities which inspired me to place her into the water to mimic the poised stance of Venus whose beauty, according to the painter Botticelli, could lift the mind toward the spiritual of a new life which also invokes the feelings of beauty and love.
Roni Shechber – Re-Art
Granter of Insight
Knowledge, among other things, is connected to good and evil.
I planted in my Reart for David's work the planet Jupiter as a symbol
of morality (in Hebrew the meaning of his name is justice). I duplicated
the image and made small changes in the copy to represent good and evil.
בראשית ב י"ז
"ומעץ הדעת טוב ורע לא תאכל ממנו כי ביום אכלך ממנו מות תמות."
Genesis 2:17 "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Return
Cathy Tobias - Original
Revenge
Judaism, Art & Science, interwoven or separately, can be used for better or for
worse; to heal or harm, repair or destroy, unify or divide, nurture or neglect, accept
or oppress, amend or avenge, and so forth. My Judaism teaches me the importance
of my personal responsibility in repairing the world and restoring justice, Tikkun
Olam.
As Paul Wellstone, the late, great, Jewish, Minnesota Senator, said, “When we all do
better, we all do better.” How do we interweave these three powerful practices to
“do better” in the world and not worse? As the Mishnah teaches, If you save one life
you save the world, if you destroy one life you destroy the world.
The picture submitted was taken in the fall of 2018 at what remains of Mauthausen-
Gusen concentration camp complex located in Austria. The photograph shows a
small portion of the very large gas chamber in the basement of one of the housing
bunkers. Just across the hall, there were a couple of rooms with furnaces where the
exterminated bodies were stacked and incinerated. It was bone chilling to see, even
70 plus years later. This is a clear example of where distorted beliefs, cruel
creativity and science intertwined for “worse” and unimaginable evils.
On the one pillar, in large, black, Hebrew letters with an exclamation mark, was the
word “revenge”. There were also smaller scratches in the pillar with the same word
and the date 12/11/15. I was immediately moved and shaken. Who wrote that?
Was it a returning survivor from the camp or a relative? What did they mean? What
is revenge? The definition of revenge is to inflict hurt or harm for an injury or wrong
suffered at their hands. How do I reconcile the call for “revenge”, to inflict pain, with
my belief and commitment to “repair”? I wondered, is repair the best revenge?
Maybe, the best revenge is a life well lived, and a life where Judaism and Jews now
survive and thrive in the world.
Recently, in the Sunday, New Your Times, there was an article titled, “American Jews
and Israeli Jews Break Up”, calling our inner conflict “the great schism”. How do we
heal our own divide? Maybe, by practicing amongst ourselves understanding,
compassion, acceptance, tolerance, and justice, we repair and discover the best
revenge of all.
Re-Art Work
Anatt Friedman – Re-Art
A patchwork quilt
Is it possible to recover, to repair, to overcome the traumas?
I imagine it is more like weaving our way to live with the pain, with the
memories, adding new lives, new pieces around it -like waving a
patchwork quilt.
The word revenge is such a strong and painful statement, and I decided
to weave new pieces to this photographed statement and rearrange the
order of the memories in the artwork.
I gave the wind /the storm/the spirit to move the artwork and affect it and I
photographed the artwork while it was in movement.
Moving with the pain, with the stories of the holocaust, weaving a way to
raise up, like the sunflower – is a life process.
In a personal level, for my own grandma who survived Auschwitz, the most
precious and meaningful piece in all of this ‘patchwork quilt’ was to be
surrounded by her grandchildren and her family and to see us growing.
Her eyes shined and she was full of pride and joy from this.
Maybe in a way this was also her revenge….
David Sherman – Re-Art
Tikun Olam
Judaism gives me the tools to understand the unbelievable. My Jewish practice leads me on a path of humanity. Scientific proof is not required.
Science, in its purest form rejects religion. It is absolutes, proofs and mechanics. The scientific search for understanding provides the how of our existence but not the why. Science absent humanity turns to evil.
The Nazi gas chambers are the definitive example.
The convergence of science and humanity brings about a more perfected world – Tikun Olam – a place where science is used for good.
My re-art is a portrait of my friend Peter Gross. He is holding jars of clean water while standing in water. Peter’s entire professional life has been devoted to water; its purification and accessibility. He holds 10 patents related to the science of water purification. Peter is the embodiment of science used for good, for Tikun Olam.
There is a teaching by the Baal Shem Tov
About our reflection in water.
It’s a teaching about humility.
The closer we are to the water there is no reflection.
When we are far away the reflection is seen.
It’s the same with another person.
When we are far away
We sometimes only see ourselves.
But when we are close with someone else it is as if we become one with them,
We can truly see them.
ספר בעל שם טוב, כי תשא ט"ו
In our pursuit of a better world, may we be in the water and see the reflection.
Linda Passon-McNally – Re-Art
From Revenge to Redemption
As I studied Cathy Tobias’ photograph of the interior walls of the remains at Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp complex located in Austria, the Hebrew letters for the word meaning “revenge” came into focus. The letters actually started moving like they were alive. The word was written on the crumbling walls of this concentration camp where Jewish victims were murdered. What other word could I think of to counter the powerful meaning of this word “revenge” which made my heart pound. I found a quote attributed to The Talmud: “Live well. It’s the greatest revenge.” Then I learned that the opposite meaning of revenge is “redemption” which also evokes the meaning of survival and growth. To me, the message of “redemption” is the perfect counterpoint to the chilling word “revenge” which, I suspect, was written on the wall by a visitor to this site.
I chose to collage Cathy’s photo with a photo of the colorful Mediterranean along the coastline of Tel Aviv-Jaffa in Israel which depicts a feeling of a thriving and lively place to live, work, and play. The scene evokes a sense of well-being which is my hope for the future of Israel.
In addition, I’d like to add a special “toda rabah” to Israeli photo hobbyist Shai Pal who I met through the internet. He graciously granted me permission, through a public posting on Google search, to use a portion of his photo of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa coastline which was shot with a drone camera. I look forward to meeting him at our P2G program exhibition in Rehovot in November of this year. This online meeting was another wonderful element of the Partnership2Gether program.
Pazit Assouline – Re-Art
Revenge
נקמה | Revenge
Years after the Holocaust
The best revenge I can think of is Life
4 generations in the Land of Israel
Grandma and Grandpa
Mom and Dad
Me and my partner | husband | friend
My children - great-grandchildren
State | Flag | Life
Pictures of my family, butterfly & flower Life
I took all the photos in Israel
Roni Shechber – Re-Art
Revenge
In Cathy's work, what caught me was the yellow pipes and the word revenge.
I wanted to focus on the essence of revenge within the connection of the
Holocaust.
We will never really be able to contain what happened in the Holocaust.
What seems to be revenge for the Holocaust is the continuation of life.
The sun and the yellow color symbolize the continuation and the joy of life.
Life is stronger than anything - although there was a Holocaust, the sun
continued to shine and people who lost everything rebuilt themselves.
And yet, the pipes are there to remind us that such a terrible thing had
happened, and could happen again.
Return
worse; to heal or harm, repair or destroy, unify or divide, nurture or neglect, accept
or oppress, amend or avenge, and so forth. My Judaism teaches me the importance
of my personal responsibility in repairing the world and restoring justice, Tikkun
Olam.
As Paul Wellstone, the late, great, Jewish, Minnesota Senator, said, “When we all do
better, we all do better.” How do we interweave these three powerful practices to
“do better” in the world and not worse? As the Mishnah teaches, If you save one life
you save the world, if you destroy one life you destroy the world.
The picture submitted was taken in the fall of 2018 at what remains of Mauthausen-
Gusen concentration camp complex located in Austria. The photograph shows a
small portion of the very large gas chamber in the basement of one of the housing
bunkers. Just across the hall, there were a couple of rooms with furnaces where the
exterminated bodies were stacked and incinerated. It was bone chilling to see, even
70 plus years later. This is a clear example of where distorted beliefs, cruel
creativity and science intertwined for “worse” and unimaginable evils.
On the one pillar, in large, black, Hebrew letters with an exclamation mark, was the
word “revenge”. There were also smaller scratches in the pillar with the same word
and the date 12/11/15. I was immediately moved and shaken. Who wrote that?
Was it a returning survivor from the camp or a relative? What did they mean? What
is revenge? The definition of revenge is to inflict hurt or harm for an injury or wrong
suffered at their hands. How do I reconcile the call for “revenge”, to inflict pain, with
my belief and commitment to “repair”? I wondered, is repair the best revenge?
Maybe, the best revenge is a life well lived, and a life where Judaism and Jews now
survive and thrive in the world.
Recently, in the Sunday, New Your Times, there was an article titled, “American Jews
and Israeli Jews Break Up”, calling our inner conflict “the great schism”. How do we
heal our own divide? Maybe, by practicing amongst ourselves understanding,
compassion, acceptance, tolerance, and justice, we repair and discover the best
revenge of all.
Re-Art Work
Anatt Friedman – Re-Art
A patchwork quilt
Is it possible to recover, to repair, to overcome the traumas?
I imagine it is more like weaving our way to live with the pain, with the
memories, adding new lives, new pieces around it -like waving a
patchwork quilt.
The word revenge is such a strong and painful statement, and I decided
to weave new pieces to this photographed statement and rearrange the
order of the memories in the artwork.
I gave the wind /the storm/the spirit to move the artwork and affect it and I
photographed the artwork while it was in movement.
Moving with the pain, with the stories of the holocaust, weaving a way to
raise up, like the sunflower – is a life process.
In a personal level, for my own grandma who survived Auschwitz, the most
precious and meaningful piece in all of this ‘patchwork quilt’ was to be
surrounded by her grandchildren and her family and to see us growing.
Her eyes shined and she was full of pride and joy from this.
Maybe in a way this was also her revenge….
David Sherman – Re-Art
Tikun Olam
Judaism gives me the tools to understand the unbelievable. My Jewish practice leads me on a path of humanity. Scientific proof is not required.
Science, in its purest form rejects religion. It is absolutes, proofs and mechanics. The scientific search for understanding provides the how of our existence but not the why. Science absent humanity turns to evil.
The Nazi gas chambers are the definitive example.
The convergence of science and humanity brings about a more perfected world – Tikun Olam – a place where science is used for good.
My re-art is a portrait of my friend Peter Gross. He is holding jars of clean water while standing in water. Peter’s entire professional life has been devoted to water; its purification and accessibility. He holds 10 patents related to the science of water purification. Peter is the embodiment of science used for good, for Tikun Olam.
There is a teaching by the Baal Shem Tov
About our reflection in water.
It’s a teaching about humility.
The closer we are to the water there is no reflection.
When we are far away the reflection is seen.
It’s the same with another person.
When we are far away
We sometimes only see ourselves.
But when we are close with someone else it is as if we become one with them,
We can truly see them.
ספר בעל שם טוב, כי תשא ט"ו
In our pursuit of a better world, may we be in the water and see the reflection.
Linda Passon-McNally – Re-Art
From Revenge to Redemption
As I studied Cathy Tobias’ photograph of the interior walls of the remains at Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp complex located in Austria, the Hebrew letters for the word meaning “revenge” came into focus. The letters actually started moving like they were alive. The word was written on the crumbling walls of this concentration camp where Jewish victims were murdered. What other word could I think of to counter the powerful meaning of this word “revenge” which made my heart pound. I found a quote attributed to The Talmud: “Live well. It’s the greatest revenge.” Then I learned that the opposite meaning of revenge is “redemption” which also evokes the meaning of survival and growth. To me, the message of “redemption” is the perfect counterpoint to the chilling word “revenge” which, I suspect, was written on the wall by a visitor to this site.
I chose to collage Cathy’s photo with a photo of the colorful Mediterranean along the coastline of Tel Aviv-Jaffa in Israel which depicts a feeling of a thriving and lively place to live, work, and play. The scene evokes a sense of well-being which is my hope for the future of Israel.
In addition, I’d like to add a special “toda rabah” to Israeli photo hobbyist Shai Pal who I met through the internet. He graciously granted me permission, through a public posting on Google search, to use a portion of his photo of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa coastline which was shot with a drone camera. I look forward to meeting him at our P2G program exhibition in Rehovot in November of this year. This online meeting was another wonderful element of the Partnership2Gether program.
Pazit Assouline – Re-Art
Revenge
נקמה | Revenge
Years after the Holocaust
The best revenge I can think of is Life
4 generations in the Land of Israel
Grandma and Grandpa
Mom and Dad
Me and my partner | husband | friend
My children - great-grandchildren
State | Flag | Life
Pictures of my family, butterfly & flower Life
I took all the photos in Israel
Roni Shechber – Re-Art
Revenge
In Cathy's work, what caught me was the yellow pipes and the word revenge.
I wanted to focus on the essence of revenge within the connection of the
Holocaust.
We will never really be able to contain what happened in the Holocaust.
What seems to be revenge for the Holocaust is the continuation of life.
The sun and the yellow color symbolize the continuation and the joy of life.
Life is stronger than anything - although there was a Holocaust, the sun
continued to shine and people who lost everything rebuilt themselves.
And yet, the pipes are there to remind us that such a terrible thing had
happened, and could happen again.
Return
Pazit Assouline - Original
Let There Be Light
There are many beautiful places in Israel.
For my project, it felt right to take something that represents Rehovot & science in a good way, The Institute for Science Studies, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot. This place symbolizes progress, from a city that began as a grove to the city of science. A green lung in the middle of the city, a few minutes from home. It combines science, nature & beauty. I like to take portraits there.
The building for Science Studies is surrounded by green trees and coated with mirrors so that nature is reflected from the walls. I took the connection to Judaism from the Genesis creation story: “Let there be light״ and the creation of light. I photographed the building at day time and also at night with long exposure in total darkness. I chose to use the illuminated photograph, at the beginning of 2019, hoping for a year full with light.
Anatt Friedman – Re-Art
A Dreamcatcher
Can a clear and stable structure also be flexible? Is it fixed? Can we bend the rules? Can we restructure our beliefs? Can we look and dream differently when we are part of the structure?
In this artwork I asked these questions artistically and the sentence that I sang to myself during the creation was: “Catch your dreams before they slip away.” (Rolling Stones).
It can be seen as a dreamcatcher that is made from this sharp, strong and stable structure. I tried to capture the spark, to see the light from a different angle.
“catch your dreams before they slip away”
Re-Art Work
Cathy Tobias – Re-Art
Cellular Resilience
Resilience is the capacity to recover and repair quickly from difficulties, misfortunes
and unwanted or unexpected changes. Cells are the smallest unit of living organisms and
often referred to the “building blocks of life.” Cells regularly replicate and they have an
enormous capacity for plasticity, renewal, repair and resiliency.
I resonated with the geometric shapes and reflections in Pazit’s photograph of the
Institute of Science Studies at the Weizmann Institute. I blended in my photograph
from the ceiling of the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík Iceland with its repetitive
geometric shapes and reflective materials. Also, I thought the pattern looked like a
microscope view of cells.
Nelson Mandela said, "No one is born hating another person because of the color of
his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can
learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human
heart than its opposite."
Even at the cellular level, the smallest unit of life, we have the resiliency to learn,
relearn, mend, mold, heal, renew, and repair.
David Sherman – Re-Art
Ziv Haolam
Pazit’s beautiful image is a about the beauty found throughout Israel and specifically about the beauty in the relationship between the city of Rehovot and science.
During the time I was considering my Re-Art, I attended erev Shabbat services. Y’did Nefesh, the opening poem/song, resonated with me. Y’did Nefesh speaks to the beauty in the relationship between god and the Jewish people. Pazit’s image is also about a beauty relationship.
To make my Re-Art, I projected Pazit’s image onto a model.
The Re-Art is titled Ziv Haolam – Light of the World – taken from the second paragraph of Y’did Nefesh, is the poet’s description of god. It is parallel to Pazit naming her image Let there Be Light.
Linda Passon-McNally - Re-Art
Hilo Landing
The creation of my first re-art piece was a challenging and, ultimately, a very satisfying experience. I approached the process by first studying Pazit’s photo and reading her write-up to get a feel for the subject and her inspiration.
Luckily, at the time I was working on this Re-Art, I happened to be vacationing on the Big Island of Hawaii which offered me many new water scenes.
Keeping Pazit’s image in my mind as I hiked around my favorite beaches in Hilo, I photographed the water from many different angles. Then, using a photographic application, I recomposed the building into the water as though it looked like an ark – perhaps a modern version of Noah’s ark. The wonderful reflections of the sky and surrounding nature created a mystery of a sense of place, and the re-art came together like I imagined.
Roni Shechber – Re-Art
Let there be Light
In the original work, the building and the vegetation are mixed together through the
reflection in the mirrors. In my Re-Art there is an attempt to differentiate between the divine creation in the work, and the creation of man - the building. I tried to separate the building from the natural environment, in order to show that there are three forms of creation in this work - god, man, and technological creation, and they all affect each other.
Return
Anatt Friedman - Original
HaMavdil
Artist statement:
“Hamavdil bein Kodesh lehol - המבדיל בין קודש לחול
“who separates between holy and ordinary….”
We can all fill our cup with meaning, based on our own values of holiness and
spirituality, or daily, materialistic content.
In this artwork, I created a dialog between holiness and the ordinary: the ability
to fill with and contain differences and opposites of matter and spirit, while
enabling movement and connection between them.
The blessing of Havdala, where we say” Hamavdil bein Kodesh lehol” is the
blessing at the end of Shabbat. In Judaism, it symbolizes the separation of
Shabbat (holiness) and the ordinary days of the week. The Havdala blessing
does not only create a separation, it is also the place of meeting, connecting
and bridging the Shabbat with the ordinary. Thus, it is customary to fill the glass
of wine slightly more than the glass can contain, so that the holy (wine) will
overflow and connect with the ordinary day.
The population in Rehovot is varied and integrates all sectors of the religious
and the secular, and it is a microcosm of Israel’s Jewish population. It is the
people's ability to mutually respect each other that provides unique
opportunities for joint communication and learning from each other.
In this artwork, I sculptured a cup and poured a variety of materials within. The
wine symbolizes both the holiness and the ordinary; the Kiddush wine and the
history of agriculture in Rehovot.
As a digital art therapist who works intensively with special needs populations, I
am in a continuous search for the holiness and the inner spark within every
participant, even as part of their daily routine. At my work I also combine
different materials such as plastic art and digital technology. These art tools are
used to create unique connections and opportunities for participants to express
themselves and fill their lives with meaningful experiences.
Re-Art Work
Cathy Tobias – Re-Art
Resistance
What is holy? What is ordinary? How do we separate or connect holy and ordinary?
What happens when the unfortunate, unexpected, or disastrous occurs in life and
shifts the holy to unholy and the ordinary to unordinary?
This photography is the lower right corner of the western side of the “Ghetto Heroes
Monument” in Warsaw Poland. The bronze sculpture commemorates the Warsaw
ghetto uprising in 1943 and the insurgents resisting transportation to extermination
camps.
The fallen holy resistance hero weeps tears of sorrow, grief and suffering, after
bravely and courageously fighting to preserve what was left of the holy and the
ordinary lives of the Jewish community in Poland. His falling tears land in the holy
receptacle of the Havdalah cup, mingling with years of rich Jewish history, tradition,
belief and practices.
The tears of human tragedy and holy traditions are mixed, overflowing and falling to
the ground, hopefully, fertilizing new, life affirming seeds, honoring the memory of
the courageous, reminding us to grow and preserve our own traditions and beliefs,
and treating others with human dignity, and cultivating what is holy into our own
ordinary lives.
Hillel teaches, “That which is despicable to you, do not do to others. This is the
whole Torah and the rest is commentary. Now go and learn.”
David Sherman – Re-Art
The Spirit of Hashem
As Jews we light candles to draw our attention to time and make it holy. We light candles to bring in Shabbat and festivals. We light candles on Chanukah and in remembrance of our loved ones who have passed away. As Anat referenced in her art, we mark the time and space between the holiness of Shabbat and the everyday with Havdalah, including a multi-wick candle which emits considerable light.
In Proverbs 20:27 it is written:
נר הי נשמת אדם
The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD
Fire is a metaphor for the spirit God has imbued within each of us. Like fire, we are always looking upwards, seeking meaning, transcendence and spirituality in our lives. From fire, we learn that we are able share our best qualities without diminishing ourselves.
Linda Passon-McNally – Re-Art
L’Chayim
Creating this re-art became a very personal expression of my first visit to Israel. In 1968 I was a volunteer at Kibbutz Shaar Hagolan, and, in addition to working very hard in the banana groves and artichoke fields, we enjoyed many hikes and travels throughout the country.
For this Re-Art, I collaged part of Anatt Friedman’s original piece “Hamavdil” with a photo of me at age 25, sitting on a hilltop, overlooking the southern edge of the Kinneret as it meets the Jordan Valley. (I remember handing my Kodak Instamatic camera to a friend who snapped the shutter.) The experience of living on the kibbutz was life-changing in that it helped me feel closer to my Jewish heritage and proud to be connected to the State of Israel.
To this day I fondly recall the warmth, generosity, and love from my kibbutz family and the other members of Shaar Hagolan as we shared life shortly after the Six Day War and still had to worry about nightly rocket attacks. We worked in the fields, danced in the chadar, shared food, songs, and conversations, traveled, and lived the rich kibbutz life - sometimes needing to sleep in bomb shelters or quickly take protection from falling rockets - but still laughing, singing, dancing, eating, and loving. L’Chayim - To Life
Pazit Assouline – Re-Art
My glass is full - My glass is empty
My glass is half full
Do I appreciate the full half?
Do I see only what is missing?
How do I choose to fill my glass
I use cups in my commercial work as a food photographer
Here are some of my full cups
Roni Shechber – Re-Art
HaMavdil
My Re-Art for Anatt work refers to the text that Anatt wrote about her work, in which she explains the practice of overfilling the glass in the Havdalah ceremony. I used the image of the full glass from Anatt's original work and created an abstract image that could belong to the world of astronomy.
The three stars symbolize the transition from sacred to profane, there is a symbolic
separation between the parts of the image, but the colors form a continuous connection, such as the desire to draw from the holiness of Shabbat to the rest of the week.
Return
Roni Shechber - Original
Drop
Technique: Editing layers of images
Israel has contributed greatly to the technological renewal in agriculture field worldwide. At the moment, agriculture in Israel is in a problematic place because of water shortage. Nevertheless, Israeli research and innovations in the field of agriculture continue to develop and grow and influence many countries around the world. A broad Jewish value is connected to the manner of agricultural growth - the commandments that depend on the land, the Torah links agricultural crops to the need to contribute to society.
Deuteronomy 24: 19
When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to take it; it shall be [left] for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord, your God, will bless you in all that you do. When you beat your olive tree, you shall not deglorify it [by picking all its fruit] after you; it shall be [left] for the stranger, the orphan and the widow.
דברים כ"ד: יט כִּי תִקְצֹר קְצִירְךָ בְשָׂדֶךָ וְשָׁכַחְתָּ עֹמֶר בַּשָּׂדֶה, לֹא תָשׁוּב לְקַחְתּוֹ--לַגֵּר לַיָּתוֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָה, יִהְיֶה: לְמַעַן יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, בְּכֹל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֶיךָ. כִּי תַחְבֹּט זֵיתְךָ, לֹא תְפַאֵר אַחֲרֶיךָ: לַגֵּר לַיָּתוֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָה, יִהְיֶה
One of Israel's greatest technological innovations in the field of agriculture is the distribution of the drip irrigation system. The drip irrigation system based on it was invented, produced and distributed by the Israeli engineer Simcha Blass and his son Isaiah. The invention is a global revolution in the methods of irrigation and fertilization in agriculture, and has the potential to save water and nutrients by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants. An important part of the development and promotion of the field and its distribution throughout the world is attributed to Professor Dan Goldberg of the Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot.
My work began with the idea of one drop thrown directly to the root of the plant, and the meaning of its impact compared to the amount of water that reach the plant in another way.
Re-Art Work
Anatt Friedman – Re-Art
Roots
This re-art represents a dialog with our roots, a dialog on the cycle of nature throughout the seasons and indeed, life.
Where are our roots for growth? In which direction do we grow?
Can the tree exist even when it’s no longer present?
I created this piece in loving memory of Dr Mordechai Hochberg, an outstanding pioneer in the field of nutrition and organic agriculture in Israel who recently passed away. Motti, as he liked to be called, opened his unusually big heart to all people and shared his eternal connection to mother earth and her treasures. I had the honor to learn and grow from dear Motti, who will always be in my heart.
Cathy Tobias – Re-Art
Renewal
When I first reflected on Roni’s art work, “Drop,” I thought about the enormous
impact the drip system, that was developed in Israel, has had on Israeli’s agriculture
and economy. How did I want to honor this incredible Israel invention?
I began my re-art by making some changes to Roni’s original with various filters to
create a more abstract design and then painting in different colors. Then I blended
in a photograph I shot in Tuscany, Italy, of rows of beautiful lush vineyards. I heard
there were vineyards near Rehovot, so I wanted to also reflect the area where the
three Israeli artists on this project live. I thought the picture looked colorful, and
interesting, though I wasn’t satisfied and I wanted to say more.
Then, I found a photo I had from a few years ago at The Shuk, Mahane Yehuda
market in Jerusalem of men shopping frantically just before Shabbat. I took my
redesign and imposed it on the skylight in the market and on the price sign for the
fruit keeping the original price too. I felt this photograph reflected my style of story
telling in much of my work. Also, I was particularly drawn in by the men’s intense,
focused, expressions as they hurriedly shop in preparation for Shabbat. The rows of
beautiful, colorful fruit too were only possible in Israel because of the drip system.
It is my way of honoring some the customs, cultures, and lifestyles in Israel and the
possibilities that have emerged in Israel, and around the world, turning arid and
semi-arid land into fertile fields with drip irrigation.
David Sherman – Re-Art
O'Neill
O’Neill is the name of a small agricultural community in northcentral Nebraska. It is the location of the first turkey farm my grandfather purchased in 1948. That farm was my home during the summer of 1960. To me, O’Neill is less physical and more emotional.
Roni’s piece is about agriculture, irrigation technology and water. Her image and words take me back to my own roots in agriculture. My grandfather operated egg and turkey processing businesses, a turkey hatchery and turkey farms. My father was a turkey farmer. I dreamed of a career in farming and have two university degrees in Agricultural Economics. Today, I maintain the family agricultural heritage by operating under the same family business name.
My re-art combines Ronit’s “Drop” with a photograph from our family archive. The early 1950’s photograph of the farmhand on the O’Neill farm at work with a flock of turkeys predates my birth. The image shows the manual feeders and water troughs used at the time to raise turkeys. The landscape is barren and flat. Roni’s blue image is re-cast as a red summer thunderstorm. Her roots become lightening. Her tree becomes the storm cloud that replenishes the dry farmland with rain.
Linda Passon-McNally – Re-Art
One Drop Feeds Many Roots
The challenge of our 3rd re-art project presented many questions for me, especially because of the graphic nature of Roni’s image. The technical challenges of how to use computer programs versus more simple, old fashioned techniques were enlightening to work through. In the end, I chose a simple method of printing a new image (a blooming orange tree) on acetate, cutting it out with a scissors, physically placing it over a print of Roni’s original image, and photographing the blend. The simplicity was cathartic!
I enjoyed thinking through the meaning of “Drop.” There are so many relevant references: the water shortage in Israel (and many other places in the world), the important Israeli innovations to use water more efficiently, the enormous amount of produce that is grown in and exported from Israel - example: Jaffa oranges, and how roots from many sources feed our creativity.
Pazit Assouline - Re-Art
Roots - Shorashim
Water
Wind | Snow | Rain
Breathing
חיים | LIFE | חיים
Roots
The roots of the tree are planted deep in the ground
Where are my roots?
What nourishes them?
Return
Israel has contributed greatly to the technological renewal in agriculture field worldwide. At the moment, agriculture in Israel is in a problematic place because of water shortage. Nevertheless, Israeli research and innovations in the field of agriculture continue to develop and grow and influence many countries around the world. A broad Jewish value is connected to the manner of agricultural growth - the commandments that depend on the land, the Torah links agricultural crops to the need to contribute to society.
Deuteronomy 24: 19
When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to take it; it shall be [left] for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord, your God, will bless you in all that you do. When you beat your olive tree, you shall not deglorify it [by picking all its fruit] after you; it shall be [left] for the stranger, the orphan and the widow.
דברים כ"ד: יט כִּי תִקְצֹר קְצִירְךָ בְשָׂדֶךָ וְשָׁכַחְתָּ עֹמֶר בַּשָּׂדֶה, לֹא תָשׁוּב לְקַחְתּוֹ--לַגֵּר לַיָּתוֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָה, יִהְיֶה: לְמַעַן יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, בְּכֹל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֶיךָ. כִּי תַחְבֹּט זֵיתְךָ, לֹא תְפַאֵר אַחֲרֶיךָ: לַגֵּר לַיָּתוֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָה, יִהְיֶה
One of Israel's greatest technological innovations in the field of agriculture is the distribution of the drip irrigation system. The drip irrigation system based on it was invented, produced and distributed by the Israeli engineer Simcha Blass and his son Isaiah. The invention is a global revolution in the methods of irrigation and fertilization in agriculture, and has the potential to save water and nutrients by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants. An important part of the development and promotion of the field and its distribution throughout the world is attributed to Professor Dan Goldberg of the Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot.
My work began with the idea of one drop thrown directly to the root of the plant, and the meaning of its impact compared to the amount of water that reach the plant in another way.
Re-Art Work
Anatt Friedman – Re-Art
Roots
This re-art represents a dialog with our roots, a dialog on the cycle of nature throughout the seasons and indeed, life.
Where are our roots for growth? In which direction do we grow?
Can the tree exist even when it’s no longer present?
I created this piece in loving memory of Dr Mordechai Hochberg, an outstanding pioneer in the field of nutrition and organic agriculture in Israel who recently passed away. Motti, as he liked to be called, opened his unusually big heart to all people and shared his eternal connection to mother earth and her treasures. I had the honor to learn and grow from dear Motti, who will always be in my heart.
Cathy Tobias – Re-Art
Renewal
When I first reflected on Roni’s art work, “Drop,” I thought about the enormous
impact the drip system, that was developed in Israel, has had on Israeli’s agriculture
and economy. How did I want to honor this incredible Israel invention?
I began my re-art by making some changes to Roni’s original with various filters to
create a more abstract design and then painting in different colors. Then I blended
in a photograph I shot in Tuscany, Italy, of rows of beautiful lush vineyards. I heard
there were vineyards near Rehovot, so I wanted to also reflect the area where the
three Israeli artists on this project live. I thought the picture looked colorful, and
interesting, though I wasn’t satisfied and I wanted to say more.
Then, I found a photo I had from a few years ago at The Shuk, Mahane Yehuda
market in Jerusalem of men shopping frantically just before Shabbat. I took my
redesign and imposed it on the skylight in the market and on the price sign for the
fruit keeping the original price too. I felt this photograph reflected my style of story
telling in much of my work. Also, I was particularly drawn in by the men’s intense,
focused, expressions as they hurriedly shop in preparation for Shabbat. The rows of
beautiful, colorful fruit too were only possible in Israel because of the drip system.
It is my way of honoring some the customs, cultures, and lifestyles in Israel and the
possibilities that have emerged in Israel, and around the world, turning arid and
semi-arid land into fertile fields with drip irrigation.
David Sherman – Re-Art
O'Neill
O’Neill is the name of a small agricultural community in northcentral Nebraska. It is the location of the first turkey farm my grandfather purchased in 1948. That farm was my home during the summer of 1960. To me, O’Neill is less physical and more emotional.
Roni’s piece is about agriculture, irrigation technology and water. Her image and words take me back to my own roots in agriculture. My grandfather operated egg and turkey processing businesses, a turkey hatchery and turkey farms. My father was a turkey farmer. I dreamed of a career in farming and have two university degrees in Agricultural Economics. Today, I maintain the family agricultural heritage by operating under the same family business name.
My re-art combines Ronit’s “Drop” with a photograph from our family archive. The early 1950’s photograph of the farmhand on the O’Neill farm at work with a flock of turkeys predates my birth. The image shows the manual feeders and water troughs used at the time to raise turkeys. The landscape is barren and flat. Roni’s blue image is re-cast as a red summer thunderstorm. Her roots become lightening. Her tree becomes the storm cloud that replenishes the dry farmland with rain.
Linda Passon-McNally – Re-Art
One Drop Feeds Many Roots
The challenge of our 3rd re-art project presented many questions for me, especially because of the graphic nature of Roni’s image. The technical challenges of how to use computer programs versus more simple, old fashioned techniques were enlightening to work through. In the end, I chose a simple method of printing a new image (a blooming orange tree) on acetate, cutting it out with a scissors, physically placing it over a print of Roni’s original image, and photographing the blend. The simplicity was cathartic!
I enjoyed thinking through the meaning of “Drop.” There are so many relevant references: the water shortage in Israel (and many other places in the world), the important Israeli innovations to use water more efficiently, the enormous amount of produce that is grown in and exported from Israel - example: Jaffa oranges, and how roots from many sources feed our creativity.
Pazit Assouline - Re-Art
Roots - Shorashim
Water
Wind | Snow | Rain
Breathing
חיים | LIFE | חיים
Roots
The roots of the tree are planted deep in the ground
Where are my roots?
What nourishes them?
Return
Irene Dym- Original
My World #1
It was relatively easy for me to start the first work since the project’s subject matter, Art, Science, and Judaism, is part of my surroundings. I live on the grounds of the Weizmann Institute in Israel. In the past, I have used the image of the nuclear accelerator, which is on the grounds, as an inspiration for many of my artworks.
We have about 1200 students working towards a higher degree at the Institute of which a significant number are female. They will go out into the world spreading their knowledge. In the past they have gone on to create technological and medical start-ups whose inventions have profound spheres of influence in the world.
In the background is a computer printout that was typical fifty years ago. Things have changed radically since then, which in terms of world history, is an extremely short time.
Re-Art Work
Susan Weinberg Re-Art
The Heartbeat
I began with a Star of David angled into space, the background for this exploration. My partner’s work contained scientific discoveries, so I pulled up a lengthy list of discoveries by Jews. I collaged in images of nuclear chain reactions, quantum mechanics, computer technology, and the polio vaccine. I noted that there were many discoveries related to the heart such as defibrillators, pacemakers, even the application of electrocardiography. Jews expended a lot of energy on keeping the heart beating. The Torah looks to the heart as the seat of wisdom with over 900 mentions. I placed a heart in the middle of the star with defibrillators on either side, the beating heart of Judaism, ready for a jolt if necessary.
In my partner’s work, two tall figures pointed smaller figures in opposite directions. I had once read The Great Escape by Kati Marton about nine Budapest Jews, many of them scientists, who carried their scientific knowledge with them as they escaped Hungary during WWII. The figures reminded me of those Jewish refugee scientists. I multiplied them and collaged them moving out from the star in opposite directions, imagining them carrying their knowledge around the world. Jews are often the canary in the coal mine, so I perched a canary on the star. The heartbeat of Judaism represents the safety of otherness in our world. The EKG beats a path at the bottom of the painting, blank at the end, the future. Where does it lead us?
We have about 1200 students working towards a higher degree at the Institute of which a significant number are female. They will go out into the world spreading their knowledge. In the past they have gone on to create technological and medical start-ups whose inventions have profound spheres of influence in the world.
In the background is a computer printout that was typical fifty years ago. Things have changed radically since then, which in terms of world history, is an extremely short time.
Re-Art Work
Susan Weinberg Re-Art
The Heartbeat
I began with a Star of David angled into space, the background for this exploration. My partner’s work contained scientific discoveries, so I pulled up a lengthy list of discoveries by Jews. I collaged in images of nuclear chain reactions, quantum mechanics, computer technology, and the polio vaccine. I noted that there were many discoveries related to the heart such as defibrillators, pacemakers, even the application of electrocardiography. Jews expended a lot of energy on keeping the heart beating. The Torah looks to the heart as the seat of wisdom with over 900 mentions. I placed a heart in the middle of the star with defibrillators on either side, the beating heart of Judaism, ready for a jolt if necessary.
In my partner’s work, two tall figures pointed smaller figures in opposite directions. I had once read The Great Escape by Kati Marton about nine Budapest Jews, many of them scientists, who carried their scientific knowledge with them as they escaped Hungary during WWII. The figures reminded me of those Jewish refugee scientists. I multiplied them and collaged them moving out from the star in opposite directions, imagining them carrying their knowledge around the world. Jews are often the canary in the coal mine, so I perched a canary on the star. The heartbeat of Judaism represents the safety of otherness in our world. The EKG beats a path at the bottom of the painting, blank at the end, the future. Where does it lead us?
Susan Weinberg - Original
In Our Image
I often begin a project with research. In my explorations I ran across a book called Judaism, Physics and God by Rabbi David Nelson in which he explored scientific concepts as metaphors for Judaism. It was there that I learned about fractals, a discovery by the Jewish mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot. Fractals can be defined by mathematical equations and explain things that have complexity and variation that can’t be captured by the simplified forms of Euclidian geometry. They are reflected in nature and in the human body. One fractal formula addresses branching found in lightening, rivers and trees. In the human body you find them in the bronchi of the lungs, the blood vessels and nervous system. Fractals allow for the study of such diverse ideas as the growth of bacteria, traffic patterns and the stock market, concepts that often appear irregular and unpredictable but have an order and logic of their own.
To capture this idea, I explored the idea of fractals in clouds, rivers and trees. In the clouds you will find a passage from Genesis that reads "Let us make man in our image after our likeness." I am intrigued with the way the universe has an internal logic that is repeating and reflected throughout many forms, from trees and clouds to the human body. I am also drawn to the idea that what appears random and chaotic may not actually be.
Re-Art Work
Irene Dym
My World #2
Return
Joelle Zajfman
Untitled - Original
Re-Art Work
Ann Ginsburgh Hofkin
Release, Reflect
“Black holes are black because no light can escape them, and thus the holes themselves are invisible.” (Posted by Deborah Byrd in SPACE | April 10, 2019) In this image, I have chosen one of my photographs of the full moon with an area of clouds surrounding it. I then layered this on top of an image sent to me by my artist partner from Rehovot, Joelle Zajfman. I interpreted her piece as one view of a black hole (assuming that we would be able to SEE or OBSERVE this phenomenon) or of what Joelle or I might imagine that it would look like. As we are told, black holes are places in space where an enormous amount of matter is so densely packed and gravity is so strong that nothing whatsoever, not even LIGHT, can escape.
But one can imagine that in the case of an explosion of a black hole if light WERE to escape from it (making it therefore no longer a black hole!), then during the very initial fraction of the first moment of this process, it might resemble this image, “Release, Reflect,” in some way. At the release of light, the moon would quickly assume its symbolic reflective stance, similar in appearance to what we know of this celebrated and beloved body in space.
Judaism, as it intersects with both science and art, is rich with moon symbolism. As Jews, we use the moon to measure our days. We also look to its phases as evidence that even though things may seem diminished at times, there is always the hope for restoration and renewal; the moon, although periodically smaller or absent from sight, will once again become full.
Re-Art Work
Ann Ginsburgh Hofkin
Release, Reflect
“Black holes are black because no light can escape them, and thus the holes themselves are invisible.” (Posted by Deborah Byrd in SPACE | April 10, 2019) In this image, I have chosen one of my photographs of the full moon with an area of clouds surrounding it. I then layered this on top of an image sent to me by my artist partner from Rehovot, Joelle Zajfman. I interpreted her piece as one view of a black hole (assuming that we would be able to SEE or OBSERVE this phenomenon) or of what Joelle or I might imagine that it would look like. As we are told, black holes are places in space where an enormous amount of matter is so densely packed and gravity is so strong that nothing whatsoever, not even LIGHT, can escape.
But one can imagine that in the case of an explosion of a black hole if light WERE to escape from it (making it therefore no longer a black hole!), then during the very initial fraction of the first moment of this process, it might resemble this image, “Release, Reflect,” in some way. At the release of light, the moon would quickly assume its symbolic reflective stance, similar in appearance to what we know of this celebrated and beloved body in space.
Judaism, as it intersects with both science and art, is rich with moon symbolism. As Jews, we use the moon to measure our days. We also look to its phases as evidence that even though things may seem diminished at times, there is always the hope for restoration and renewal; the moon, although periodically smaller or absent from sight, will once again become full.
Ann Ginsburgh Hofkin - Original
Let There Be Light
I have owned an orchid cactus (genus, epiphyllum) for many years. This particular specimen has bloomed with only a single flower once every five years. Several months ago, when the first signs of a bud appeared, I was drawn to observing and cherishing it in an especially intense way. This flower totally captured both my affection and my imagination. I felt compelled to observe it as it passed through its incredibly brief existence…its birth, development and growth, and its subsequent demise. I found its fleeting passage through my world to be especially poignant. For me, it was a metaphor for the very gift of life in general. I wanted to “stay awake” for all of it! I selected this particular photograph of the orchid because I found it to suggest the very creation of light itself. I thought that HAD we been there at the time to witness the Original Creation, we might have seen something akin to this image. We read in Genesis 1:3-5: { And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.}. I found an immediate connection between this single photograph and the above Torah passage. In addition, we know that nothing is visible (in the physical sense) unless it is revealed by light. Light, both literally and figuratively, leads to a particular kind of “revelation.” This image, with its burst of light and the short-lived existence it portrays, has shouted out to me that we must take notice – it has been a metaphor for life in general that has had an poignant impact on me.
Re-Art Work
Joelle Zajfman
Untitled
What is space? What is time? Is the way human beings sense these two aspects of our Universe real or only a perception of the reality? How can the Universe be infinitely big, yet be made of particles that are infinitely small? How can the Universe be governed by the huge forces of gravitation, while every single piece of it is governed by quantum physics?
In my work, I represent the infinite Universe, which is a smooth texture with a big body in its center representing planets embedded into this background. Then I used the work of my artist partner, Ann Ginsburg Hofkin, which I cut in “small pieces”, to represent the infinitesimally small quantum components of the universe, while still keeping the original relative locations of these bits of matter.
Altogether, the combined work expresses the contradiction between the small and invisible components, and the “all over the place” space and time. In a sense, it is also an expression of the contradiction between Science and Religion, where the former tries to provide an explanation based on fundamental rules and components, using the reductionist approach, while the later tries to provide the holistic view, without the need of any details or particular attribute.
Return
Rivka Krispin Usiel -Original
Untitled - Inspiration from Genesis 14-16
Re-Art Work
Carolyn Light Bell
Doctored
Inspiration from Genesis 14-16
