Emily D. Bilski
Processes of transformation are at the core of the golem motif. For artists, the golem itself became a powerful metaphor for artistic creation and the struggle for form, for bringing inanimate matter to life. As soon as the work is completed, it escapes the control of the artist, just as a golem escapes its creator.
One of the meanings of the word "golem" in Hebrew denotes something that exists in an embryonic stage. Works of art that are concerned with the process of being can develop from this core. Some artists link the Hebrew words for "person, man, human" (אדם, adam) and "earth" (אדמה, adama), which can be read as a connection to the biblical story of creation. Dramatic images emerge, which are about the transformation of the human being from clay and about its becoming one with the matter. In some works the artist as creator is associated with God the Creator.
Emily D. Bilski is an art historian, the main focus of her work is the interface between art, cultural history, and the modern Jewish experience as well as contemporary art. She works as a curator and counselor for museums in the United States, Europe, and Israel. Her books Berlin Metropolis: Jews and the New Culture: 1890-1918 (1999) and Jewish Women and Their Salons: The Power of Conversation (2005) were both awarded the National Jewish Book Award.
Citation recommendation:
Emily D. Bilski (2016), Transformation. Chapter 3 of the Exhibition Catalogue GOLEM.
URL: www.jmberlin.de/en/node/4691
Share, Newsletter, Feedback
Chapter 3 - Transformation: Selected Texts (6)

The Golem in Berlin
by Peter Schäfer
Introduction

The Golem Lives On
With Texts by Martina Lüdicke, Anna-Dorothea Ludewig, Louisa Hall and Caspar Battegay
Chapter 1

Jewish Mysticism
With Texts by Emily D. Bilski and Martina Lüdicke
Chapter 2

Legendary Prag
With Texts by Martina Lüdicke, Peter Schäfer, and Harold Gabriel Weisz Carrington
Chapter 4

Horror and Magic
With Texts by Martina Lüdicke, Karin Harrasser, Cathy S. Gelbin, Helene Wecker and Anna Augustin
Chapter 5

Out of Control
With Texts by Emily D. Bilski, Arno Pařík, Marc Estrin and Charlotta Kotik
Chapter 6

Doppelgänger
With Texts by Joshua Cohen, Tracy Bartley, Cosima Wagner
Chapter 7

Golem Catalog Online
Selected texts from our catalog
Online Publication

Golem Catalog – Print Version
The full version of our catalog is available in German.
Publication
2016
Museum Publications
Exhibition catalogs, the JMB Journal, book series, and more
All About ...