S5
Guest Artist: Abd Al-Jabari

Curators: Etty Pardo Nussbaum and Naftali Nachmani
 

Local ceramic material is usually considered a coarse and unreliable material, the result of which is sometimes unpredictable. It is not dirt-free and is not plastic. The local ceramic material is not popular with local artists - therefore, due to its cheap cost - it is used mainly in non-professional circles. S5 clay was produced from a mine located in the northern Negev, and it was used to make local ceramic material and was also a significant component in the rubber and pharmaceutical industries. This clay mining was stopped due to its depletion and the mine was closed.

In order to create a series of works on the subject of localism and a connection to the concept according to which local raw materials are loaded with local meaning, Bauman began working with a ceramic material originating in the north-central Negev (consisting of S5 clay). The fact that this local material has run out due to over-mining and use in various industries - is the essence of the exhibition that marks the point of no return of a changing reality and the depletion of natural, cultural and personal resources.

Through experimentation and wonder, Bauman creates cultural encounters with objects and concepts that become subjects of meaning, such as original molds from the Torch Factory, Palestinian urns, various raw materials, a megaphone, an old monitor of security rooms (director's monitor) and more. These, together with industrial and traditional working methods (casting into molds and pottery) serve as the object of research in the laboratory for the study of the concept of "localism" and its built-in illusion.

This exhibition is a continuation of the exhibition "Ran Out" which dealt with the meeting between the S5 material that has run out and the porcelain - the delicate and noble of the ceramic materials.

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Photos: Shai Ben Ephraim