Lital Dotan & Eyal Perry
We are two artists, working together since the year 2000. Most of the aspects in our work derive from our mutual constant dialogue between a man and a woman.
Our subjects of interest evolve from being a 3rd generation to the holocaust, the reality of terror, memories, traumas and the cultural field of Gender. Our works reflect our attempt to correspond with the question of personal freedom in our society.
We work mainly in the mediums of video, installation, performance and still photography.
All aspects of our work are created together, conceptually and visually. The final step in this process is taking a different role: Eyal – the male artist becomes the viewer, the voyeur and Lital, the female artist, becomes the performer. Her presence is of a performer who consciously chooses to be observed by the man, as a social statement, as a response to the condition of women in our western society. All of our works are based on a study and reflection of male and female subjective points of view.
In the year 2004 we worked on the project: “Garden Of Floating Eventsâ€. This project includes a series of works: installation, video performances, photographs and video arts. This project dealt with the existence in a reality of terror, fear and trauma. Some of the works were done under the impact of the hospital’s emergency room where Lital worked during the years of the last “Intifadaâ€. The emergency room, where the wounded of terror attacks were brought, became under extreme circumstances a place where suffering, tortured bodies, were exposed to the gaze of staff, families and mass media. That experience was transferred into our work, as a reflection on voyeurism in our culture and the state of mind of being an object to be looked at, that many women share.
The project: “The Burned Forestâ€, like all our work is based on a constant dialogue between us, emphasizing the cultural differences of the sexes. The theme of the “Burned Forest†is a bridge over time, from our present struggle for normality and freedom, to the burned forests of Europe 60 years ago, during the holocaust of 2nd world war, where our relevant autobiography and Odyssey as artists begins.
The exhibition ‘Ash’ (2005) reflected two main approaches to ‘Remembrance’ that were developed through the ‘Burned Forest’ project: One is derived from Lital’s autobiography: Her grandma survived the holocaust but brought complexity, memories and trauma to Lital’s life. The other is born out of void: Eyal’s Polish family branch vanished in the war without a trace, leaving only a “vacuum†to relate too. In addition to today’s problematic existential issues we deal with remembrance and personal point of view on the marks that are still a vibrant aspect of our lives.
Lital Dotan & Eyal Perry participate in
Titles:
1.1. Vicious Circle, video, (2005), 2:40
2. Embracement, video, 2005, 10:00
3. Rivka’le, video, 2004, 6:00
4. Chala Bread Dress, video, 2004, 8:00
5. Was It As Good 4 U?, video, 2004, 50,