NO HANDS ISLANDS
When I have a symbol. A thought. An interest. Written Down Brainstorming for "NO HANDS ISLAND" title.
Ba'i'i'm- In the islands. Oil on hand-made paper board. 80x100 cm. 2015
The hand as the messenger of our mind & our eyes.
I think it is where all started.
I thought about the importance of the hand in the artist's life, the meaningful position in the artistic act and the fact we take it almost for granted.
To touch, to hold, to carry, to feel the material…
What if, on my island, the man has no hands?
Island with no hands.
Mind-eye-hand connection is broken and now, the mind grows his own hands, the eyes grow their own hands. Think about it: everything is growing hands, everywhere. The mouth has hands as well as the legs, the ears, the voice- hands all over.
Then I thought about this person.
How did he get on the island?
Why doesn't he have hands? Is it because he was born this way- he didn't have a choice, and if he didn't have a choice- it could be because the hands were taken from him by force. Someone did it as punishment. Or is it a war, an illness?
Suddenly, the man on the island was no longer alone. Many others joined him. The island with no hands.
Then I thought about these who want to get on the island and they have to give up on their hands. They DO have a choice.
Some choose to stay outside and watch. Some cut their own hands off. They REALLY want to get in.
I started researching for potential citizens. I found out that a long, long time ago a great warrior set it as a condition to his men: they were requested to cut off their own finger with their teeth in order to join him. HIM means Bar Choch'va.
Nachum Ish Gam-Zu lives here too. (However, how exactly he curried that box and flew the sand in the air with no hands? He must have some really good tricks.
Issasch'ar Ish Kefar Barkat- his hands were cut off as a punishment for "He did not fear the royalty".
And the famous, famous Rabbi Amnon from Magentza, the one who refused the kind proposal- being Christian or his hands and feet fingers will be cutting down. He chose to stay a Jew and on the holly Yom-Kipur he was brought bleeding to the great synagogue in Magentza and composed the legendary "ונתנה תוקף" Piyut.
The sons of Israel, after the destruction of the Second Temple on their way to Babylon were cutting their own hands off so they won't be forced to play the songs they used to play in the
Lord's Temple.
"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hanged up our harps. For there they that led us captive asked of us words of song, and our tormentors asked of us mirth:'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.'How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a foreign land?" (Psalms Chapter 137)
Ancient cultures used to punish doctors for their patient's death or blindness by cutting off their hands. Thieves, slaves or peasant who steals from other field and a son who hits his own father.
A bride, a groom, what about the "Kidushin"- I suddenly thought. What are they doing.
The Jewish Halacha has a special attention for amputees:
The groom puts the ring in his mouth, as well as "ארבעת המינים".
A "going aside" amputee woman doesn't need to drink form the water of bitterness that causeth the curse. The "chalizt'a" can be made by any way she chooses- her teeth, her leg, her body.
But, leprous- amputee, can't have טהרה עולמית , never.
If my island was in Jerusalem, The Holly Temple will never be there again. Amputees can't serve God.
About me? Do I watch from outside or am I part of the island? Were my hands taken from me by force or by choice? And where is the great hand which the LORD did upon the Egyptians?
