Feb 5, 2010 By: yunews
Authors, Artists and Audience Reflect on Genesis Exhibit at YU Museum
Inspired by one of the most important stories imaginable鈥攖he origins of the universe鈥 Fourth Annual Writers on View featured literary responses to the provocative exhibition In the Beginning: Artists Respond to Genesis. Five accomplished writers, Jennifer Michael Hecht, Gabriel Brownstein, Henry Israeli, Sima Rabinowitz and Dara Horn, presented original poems and stories reflecting their interpretations of the exhibition and the first chapter of Genesis.
Co-sponsored by the Foundation for Jewish Culture, the event was held at the 91黑料 Museum on February 3. The evening began with a viewing of the exhibition, which features the multi- and mixed-media works of internationally acclaimed artists Alan Berliner, Ben Rubin, Shirley Shor, Matthew Ritchie and Mierle Laderman Ukeles. The program of readings followed in the auditorium with the works of poetry and fiction as strikingly different from each as the work of the visual artists.
Poet, philosopher and historian Jennifer Michael Hecht鈥檚 poem, 鈥淭he Thesis is that There Was a Beginning,鈥 was inspired by Alan Berliner鈥檚 鈥淧laying God,鈥 an interactive video installation/game in which text fragments and visual images incorporating the text of Genesis and multiple aspects of modern history flash randomly across seven screens. Hecht, like Berliner, links the ancient and modern worlds: 鈥淏y the waters of the Gowanus Canal/we sat down and wept. Born into/these ideas and flipped into those/everybody鈥檚 an exile.鈥
Ben Rubin鈥檚 fascinating sculpture 鈥淕-D鈥檚 BREATH Hovering Over the Waters (His Master鈥檚 Voice)," which re-imagines the theme of cosmic radiation and the Big Bang Theory, inspired Henry Israeli鈥檚 poem of the same title. The poet tries to make sense of the cycle of life and death in the context of his own mother鈥檚 death in a tragic car accident. He questions our sensory perceptions of the universe; argues with G-d; and ultimately concludes: 鈥淭his is a song about living.鈥
Sima Rabinowitz surprised the audience by involving them in the creation of her poem, 鈥淭he Poetry Covenant,鈥 written in response to the participatory artwork of Mierle Laderman Ukeles. Based on the mystical tikkun olam [repairing the world] creation story, Laderman Ukeles asks that visitors to her installation complete a 鈥渃ovenant鈥 promising to fulfill an act of tikkun olam. Similarly, Rabinowitz asked the audience to complete fragments of verses which she then presented, with the help of students from Stern College for Women, as a part of her poem.
鈥淭he Poetry Covenant鈥 might easily sum up one the most important aspects of uniting visual artists and writers, audiences with artistic endeavors, and all of these with our ancient beginnings:
Let us create鈥
a confluence of signs
where Scripture and scripted have interacted
to bind our lonely alphabets together.
In the Beginning: Artists Respond to Genesis is on view at 91黑料 Museum until February 28 (Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th Street, New York, NY).
Inspired by one of the most important stories imaginable鈥攖he origins of the universe鈥 Fourth Annual Writers on View featured literary responses to the provocative exhibition In the Beginning: Artists Respond to Genesis. Five accomplished writers, Jennifer Michael Hecht, Gabriel Brownstein, Henry Israeli, Sima Rabinowitz and Dara Horn, presented original poems and stories reflecting their interpretations of the exhibition and the first chapter of Genesis.
Co-sponsored by the Foundation for Jewish Culture, the event was held at the 91黑料 Museum on February 3. The evening began with a viewing of the exhibition, which features the multi- and mixed-media works of internationally acclaimed artists Alan Berliner, Ben Rubin, Shirley Shor, Matthew Ritchie and Mierle Laderman Ukeles. The program of readings followed in the auditorium with the works of poetry and fiction as strikingly different from each as the work of the visual artists.
Poet, philosopher and historian Jennifer Michael Hecht鈥檚 poem, 鈥淭he Thesis is that There Was a Beginning,鈥 was inspired by Alan Berliner鈥檚 鈥淧laying God,鈥 an interactive video installation/game in which text fragments and visual images incorporating the text of Genesis and multiple aspects of modern history flash randomly across seven screens. Hecht, like Berliner, links the ancient and modern worlds: 鈥淏y the waters of the Gowanus Canal/we sat down and wept. Born into/these ideas and flipped into those/everybody鈥檚 an exile.鈥
Ben Rubin鈥檚 fascinating sculpture 鈥淕-D鈥檚 BREATH Hovering Over the Waters (His Master鈥檚 Voice)," which re-imagines the theme of cosmic radiation and the Big Bang Theory, inspired Henry Israeli鈥檚 poem of the same title. The poet tries to make sense of the cycle of life and death in the context of his own mother鈥檚 death in a tragic car accident. He questions our sensory perceptions of the universe; argues with G-d; and ultimately concludes: 鈥淭his is a song about living.鈥
Sima Rabinowitz surprised the audience by involving them in the creation of her poem, 鈥淭he Poetry Covenant,鈥 written in response to the participatory artwork of Mierle Laderman Ukeles. Based on the mystical tikkun olam [repairing the world] creation story, Laderman Ukeles asks that visitors to her installation complete a 鈥渃ovenant鈥 promising to fulfill an act of tikkun olam. Similarly, Rabinowitz asked the audience to complete fragments of verses which she then presented, with the help of students from Stern College for Women, as a part of her poem.
鈥淭he Poetry Covenant鈥 might easily sum up one the most important aspects of uniting visual artists and writers, audiences with artistic endeavors, and all of these with our ancient beginnings:
Let us create鈥
a confluence of signs
where Scripture and scripted have interacted
to bind our lonely alphabets together.
In the Beginning: Artists Respond to Genesis is on view at 91黑料 Museum until February 28 (Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th Street, New York, NY).
