Gowns, 1998
In the show Correspondence , I divided the space in two different areas separated by a high and narrow opening. In the larger space, I displayed 50 black industrial plastic barrels filled with olive pits lightened in red. In the smaller and more domestic space at the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, I hang green nets usually sold in camping supply stores where one can buy equipment for the army, probably because of their green colour. They hang as large gowns of an archetype Mother (the mother land) and inside the gown in place of the breasts and pubic area, clumps of olives pits, a symbol of fertility. On the opposite wall, a long necklace of 100 plastic spoons with olive pits and olive oil. In a small alcove, I stored in a somehow obsessive way, jars of ‘Middle Eastern’ red salsa also a product from the kibbutz. One question bothered me: could women escape their destiny in this part of the world or would the Mother Land be feeding Her children forever with bloody salsa?
On their way out, visitors were invited to taste olives from the Holy Land.
