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Open, Closed, Open

Multimedia Installation Awarded with the DAGESH Art Award

In the installation Open, Closed, Open - פתוח, סגור, פתוח the artists Liat Grayver, Yair Kira and Amir Shpilman combine media art, robotics, space, light, and sound in interaction with the visitors. While a robot mechanically draws Hebrew letters in a sandbox, visitors are invited to enter and reshape the sand. A sound composition of human voices allows to experience the Hebrew letters acoustically as well. By projecting the interaction onto a screen robot and visitor alike become objects of observation.

From the artists’ perspective the process of continuous evolving and interacting reflects the fluidity of the construction of identities, the transience of memory, and the experience of being Jewish today. The artwork’s concept was inspired by the poem “Open, Closed, Open - פתוח, סגור, פתוח“ by the Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai.

past exhibition

Map with all buildings that belong to the Jewish Museum Berlin. The Old Building is marked in green

Where

Old Building, level 1, Education Room
Lindenstraße 9–14, 10969 Berlin

Black and white image of a section of sand with a Hebrew letter, superimposed by painted dots and arrows

Open Closed Open - פתוח סגור פתוח, Digital montage; courtesy of the artists

In 2018 the visual artist Liat Grayver, product designer Yair Kira, and composer Amir Shpilman were the recipients of the DAGESH Art Award presented by the Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Scholarship and the Jewish Museum Berlin. The prize money for the realization of the installation was donated by the Friends of the Jewish Museum.

Acknowledgement:

Robots:
So Kanno, Naoto Hiede, Ahmad Taleb.

Vocals:
Mima Millo (Soprano), Cornelius Uhle (baritone), Galil Jamal (bass-baritone), Bojan Heyn (bass)

Sound:
João Pais

Loudspeaker Design:
Andreas Kakogiannis

Motion-Tracking, Visualization:
Casa Paganini, InfoMus, Vertigo STARTS

Audio recording:
Studio für Elektronische Musik, Hochschule für Musik Dresden

Text:
Yehuda Amichai. “Open Closed Open”, Schocken Publishing House Ltd., Tel Aviv, 1998

Translation:
Chana Bloch, Stephen Mitchell.

Financial and technical support:
Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Studienwerk, Jüdisches Museum Berlin, Freunde des Jüdischen Museums Berlin, Center of Excellence “Cultural Foundations of Social Integration” at the University of Konstanz, Makeblock Europe B.V., Solectric GmbH, and Ensemble Mosaik Berlin.

With the support of the Friends of the Jewish Museum Berlin

Logo: DAGESH Kunstlab Eles

Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Studienwerk Logo

Exhibition Information at a Glance

  • When

    21 Jun to 11 Aug 2019

  • Where

    Old Building, level 1, Education Room
    Lindenstraße 9-14, 10969 Berlin
    See Location on Map

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