Sigalit Landau, who will represent Israel at the 2011 Venice Art Biennale, opened her studio this evening to talk about the project still in process: one man’s floor is another man’s feeling.
Binding together the metaphoric and the material in one image, poetic and political, the allusive title generates a concept with ample room for imagination. In the presence of curator Ilan Wizgan (co-curator Jean de Loisy was unfortunately unable to participate in the meeting) and Kamel Mennour and Marie-Sophie Eiché of the Galerie Kamel Mennour in Paris, Landau revealed just enough to inspire curiosity.
Working with three essential elements: water, land and salt, Landau’s project will relate to the Israeli pavilion itself. “Sigalit is going to work primarily with the structure of the building,” said Wizgan, “a 50s modernist building designed by Zeev Rechter. We have the feeling that he was dreaming of living there. Her point of departure will be relating to the architecture and history of the building.”
Landau emphasized the pavilion is “really small, no way it will be a huge installation. It’s not Helena Rubinstein (referring to her 2005 exhibit there – The Endless Solution).” Of the project itself, Landau said, “It’s site specific, celebrating the water that is there.” Taking off from the phrase “One man’s floor is another man’s ceiling” Landau relates to issues of interdependence, the communities and societies that live in this region, adjacent to one another, sharing land and culture, saying, “Every time I discover something new in this place. It’s also about responsibility…maybe something that has to do with the birth of my child.”
The project relates closely to the pavilion itself, some of Landau’s requirements have . “I’m going to challenge their property a little bit,” said Landau, who also commented, “I do know some secrets about the building, I was there as a youth.” This will be Landau’s second exhibit at the Biennale; she first represented Israel in 1997, as part of a group exhibition with Miriam Cabessa and Yossi Berger.
Landau has assembled quite a team for this project, quipping, “It takes two curators to control me.” Kamel Mennour explained that his role is that of a facilitator, saying, “This project is incredible, but of course, it costs money.” Although the Israeli government provides funding for the project, the sum is not sufficient to cover the expected costs. Says Landau, “There’s no fat. What I need, I need.”
On working with two curators, she says, “In the first ten years of my career I never had the honor of sharing my ideas with a curator. Now there’s a real dialogue. The nice thing is when the other side surprises you. It’s a shared journey, it’s not a monologue. Sometimes we plan not to do something, but I still do it. I’m not suffocating.”
Resolutely refusing to divulge details, Landau regretfully admitted, “My biggest fantasies, I had to alter.”
The 54th Venice Art Biennale will open on June 4, 2011.
AYELET DEKEL
