Light | Space | Time
Drora Spitz, Photographs 1968 - 2009
Translated transcription of the recorded speech given by the late Prof. Mordechai Omer (in Hebrew) on the ceremony for the publication of Drora Spitz’s Light Space Time
“The first major project in which I had the privilege to be involved was the publication of Danziger’s book Makom
– Place, which is, in fact, Drora’s book. Because, actually,
all the photographs in the book Makom – which is undoubtedly
a cornerstone of anything related to conceptual art in Israel – are Drora’s own work. Day after day, Drora relentlessly followed and recorded Danziger’s conceptual activity, taking a series of photographs, which I must admit, are among the most beautiful ever made in Israel”.
“Since then, many years of friendship have gone by, many years of major exhibitions, at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem,
in Tel-Aviv, years in which these pictures have been so
excitingly and prominently featured in the history of art in Israel”.
Another privilege I had was to host , three years ago, Drora’s solo exhibition right here, in this gallery. Then, we were given the opportunity to witness different insights, perspectives and developments in Drora’s artistic work.
I am convinced that my first lesson on Drora’s early work still remains the focal point from which her entire creative art can
be observed; that is what I would call the twilight zone. In Jewish theology, it is the area known as Makom. Makom is a somewhat strange concept, because it is space, it is what lies in-between;
it is also a combination of opposites that cannot meet;
as a concept in Judaism, Makom is situated between material and spiritual, concrete and abstract, worldly and heavenly, visible and concealed.
Throughout her entire career, Drora pursues the same dialectic; she consistently uses the same language, which is by no means an easy task through the eye of the camera. Let us not forget, the lense of the camera is “objective”, it photographs what it sees. It is therefore doubly surprising, twice as intriguing, because when you try to introduce the invisible into what you can see, that is when you realize that you are facing the artist’s genius; that is precisely the power, the strength of Drora’s art”.
“And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set” (Genesis 28:11) – and we have right here Jacob’s Dream. In other words, the physical place becomes a mental place, and in photography –the prototype par excellence of the search for the visible – where one cannot photograph what is not visible, where one is unable to extract from this technique, from this language of photography those visions that Drora does actually manage to extract. We are indeed blessed with a unique, extremely exciting moment,
and we must be thankful to all those who took part in this project: writers and composers, printers, and everyone
present here tonight.
I wish to thank each one of them personally, on my own behalf and on behalf of our country, because a wonderful, magnificent book has been composed, a tribute to the history of Israeli art, a great contribution to the history of Israeli photography”.
For further information please contact: shaul@plancon.co.il
