On the Axis of the Heavenly Spheres Curator: Lital Marcus Morin

The exhibition ‘On the Axis of the Heavenly Spheres’
creates a disposable constellation in which traditional ceramic work methods meet technology in mathematical playfulness between the constant and the charging, fate and personal choice.

 

Classic work methods that existed for generations find their place in a technological age where machines design and create, but still preserve the human touch.

 

The origin of the concept of the ‘On the Axis of the Heavenly Spheres’ comes from a primitive human concept of the structure of the universe. According to many concepts in antiquity, the sky seemed like a huge and rigid dome covering the earth. The development of modern astronomy changed this understanding, but the term is still used today as a theoretical concept that helps to navigate and imagine the visibility of the celestial bodies from the perspective of the observer on Earth.

 

The “constellation” in the exhibition consists of domes of different diameters carved in styrofoam on a CNC machine, which gives them a unique and one-off texture. The styrofoam itself is made up of small balls, similar to the particles that together make up a whole shape. Each dome model is milled in a different process that produces a variety of embellishments and demonstrates the machine’s “handwriting”, expressed in sunset monochrome.

 

The sculptures embody significant architectural buildings in Jerusalem such as the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum, and the Augusta Victoria Church, located on a geographic axis where the members of the studio made their way every day. Each sculpture is the product of an investigation of the limits of the machine versus the ceramic material: during the work process some survived the creative process, while others broke, exploded or cracked. The National Library statue did not survive the process.

 

The material research reveals the long and challenging process with the material until its final form: not every object manages to survive the journey, but each tells a story of struggle, creation and renewal.

 

In all its layers, the exhibition moves in a dialectic containing sunset and sunrise on one axis in the heart of Jerusalem.