History of Violence

Sigalit Landau

Sigalit Landau's sculpted figures resemble bodies that have been stripped of their skin - as if the outer layer of their epidermis has dissolved to reveal not only exposed flesh, but also the very essence of their existence. The flesh of these figures seems to be composed of leftover fragments of time, which are related both to the recycled paper materials used to create them and to their ongoing process of extinction. The gauntness of the figures and the presence of the large, empty, metal pots place them in a context of survival - related to hunger, plague, war or disaster. Due to their emaciated appearance, the figures all resemble one another, although they are never identical. A woman, man, boy or girl in a state of convulsion, ecstasy or imploration - they are all searching for some form of consolation.

The work alludes to a state in which the idea of community ceases to exist, and the family structure or stable relationships that parallel it are questioned and threatened. It is a state in which it is no longer clear who can or should take care of whom - not only due to ego, power and political struggles, but also because of the all-consuming distress that is capable of annihilating even the inner kernel of the self.

Like most of Landau's works, this work may be read both in terms of its allusion to a narrative context, and in a wider conceptual context. In this latter context, one may identify the work's concern with concepts such as responsibility, citizenship, solidarity or collectivity - concepts that seem to have been emptied of meaning with the passage of time. The acuteness of the critical stance presented by Landau is also given expression in her clear choice to detach her installations from obvious and limiting associations with a specific time and place. In this manner, the state captured in her works is a-temporal, archetypal and futuristic. Their criticism is directed at the essence of human existence.

Born in Jerusalem, 1969; lives and works in Tel Aviv