Miri Segal
Miriage
of Contemporary Art
Curator: Dr. Aya Lurie
Exhibition Catalog
List of works
· Cursed Spirits
· Miriage
·
Lament
·
Being Miri Segal
·
Portrait of Satoshi Nakamoto
AKA Anonymous Gazes Cross
·
Temporary Relief
· Neverfall
· The Shining
·
Sergey B.
· Don’t Be Evil
· BRB
· Place de la Bonne Heure
· Still life in cucumber season
· Necrofleur
· Vapor
· Exhibition Text by:Aya Lurie
Unless otherwise stated works are courtesy of Miri Segal and Dvir Gallery, Tel Aviv
The work was generously supported by the Cultural Council of the Israel National Lottery - Mifal HaPais.
Miri Segal: Miriage is supported by the
Artis Grant Program
Still Images in this catalogue by: Lena Gomon
Videographer: Asi Oren
MIRI SEGAL
Miri Segal’s artistic language, crystallized over the past twenty years, employs a variety of media – including video, light and text, treated objects involving hardware and software, photographic and computer-manipulated imagery. Through the involvement of sensory and physical manipulations, optical illusions, word games and enticing technological experiences, Segal's works often invade the viewer's space in unexpected ways. Floating images, Technological Ghosts, shadows without body and the Purgatorium - serve to subtly speculate on our capacity to apprehend concrete reality. Segal’s works reflect her interest in philosophical questions regarding Existence, Ethics of Technology, and Economic-Political Regimes.
AYA LURIE
Aya Lurie, PhD., is the Director and Chief Curator of The Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art. Lurie is also a Lecturer at the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Jaffa in the curatorial program of Israeli Art studies, and serves in several judicial prize committees (Art, Museum & Curatorship) in varied professional leading venues. She was the former Chief curator of the Shpilman institute for Photography.
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Home
Still Life in Cucumber Season
Media installation: video, room, glass, sheet, mirror, sound, light, 5 min Private Collection
In
this work, Segal invites the viewer to take part, as a voyeur, in a
situation that occurs between a couple who are likely fictional.
The
viewer enters a small room where one of the walls contains a
window-shaped aperture.
Opposite the “window” there hangs a piece of transparent glass,
reflecting a running
film; in front of the film, there hangs a small mirror, reflecting
the viewer’s face. The
film begins with the shot of a girl leaning against a wall, caressing
herself, waiting. The
viewer’s reflected image merges with the girl’s screened image,
creating the illusion of
contact between film and viewer. After a while, the girl is joined by
fellow with a bouquet
of flowers and bends over the girl for a lingering kiss, the
projected artificial bouquet
finds its place in a real vase in the room.
At this moment, the viewer feels that the image of the girl no longer submits to her, but rather to a different image. The action in the film is taking place on the viewer’s face excluding and embarrassing him, turning the viewer into the “still life”.
The projected balance of power echoes the mythical Orpheus story as an erotic longing to merge with the other, which is ultimately doomed to fail.
At this moment, the viewer feels that the image of the girl no longer submits to her, but rather to a different image. The action in the film is taking place on the viewer’s face excluding and embarrassing him, turning the viewer into the “still life”.
The projected balance of power echoes the mythical Orpheus story as an erotic longing to merge with the other, which is ultimately doomed to fail.