Installation view in Taipei Biennial 08, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan
The installation focuses on two sites located between Jerusalem and Ramallah, which are situated on either side of the checkpoint between the two cities, and effectively between Palestine and Israel, and the nearby separation wall which is the symbolic core of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. To the west of the wall is the abandoned Atarot\Qalandia Airport runway; to its east is a quarry at the foot of the refugee camp. The closeness and yet the vast difference between these two sites is the main inspiration for the project. This no man’s land is strewn with objects pertaining to times of war and calm, and to various forms of neglect, desertion, control, restriction and intrusion. Amongst the debris are the remains of abandoned vehicles, construction materials, sheep bones, watering and plumbing pipes and these scattered races that refer to archeology, botany, politics, strategy, geography, architecture, consumption and sanitation to together create a scene that is both ominous and pastoral.
The deserted reminders of this chaotic reality are transformed by Avrahami into sculptures cast in insulating and calking materials and dust from the ground. His contemporary fossils are like creatures yet to fully evolve. They survey and merge with the site from which they draw their inspiration.
The videos in the installation include footage filmed at the original sites and in alternative locations, as well as satellite imagery from Google Earth and additional material shot in the studio in the manner of both tourist and spy. The style and content awaken suspicion through their resemblance to media imagery and references of checkpoints, military robots, aerial photographs, censorship, clandestinely shot photographs and espionage.
