Art of Occupation, Working Rooms, London, September 2008
curated by Helene Kazan
Press Release:
‘In
1999 several settlers complained to the military of bad reception on
their cellphones as they drove round a bend on the highway, Road 60,
leading from Jerusalem to the settlements in the northern West bank. In
response, the cellphone provider, Orange, agreed to erect an antenna in
the area. The settlers pointed to an elevated hilltop overlooking the
bend as a potential site for the mast. The same hilltop had been the
site of previous – unsuccessful – settlement attempts: three years
earlier settlers claimed that the summit was an archaeological mound
under which the biblical town of Migron was buried. Sample excavations
unearthed nothing older than a small Byzantine village, but the hilltop
was named ‘Migron’ regardless. Two young settlers occupied the hill,
living in converted shipping containers, but, with no prospects of
being able to develop the site, left after a short time.
The
hilltop, its slopes cultivated with figs and olives, was owned by
Palestinian farmers from the villages of Ein Yabrud and Burka who were
shepherds there. According to the emergency powers invested in the
Israeli military, however, the construction of a cellphone antenna
could be considered a military issue, and could therefore be undertaken
on private lands without obtaining the owners’ consent. Following a
request by Orange, the Israel Electric Corporation connected the
hilltop to the water system, purportedly to enable the construction
work.
Because
of delays in the masts construction, in May 2001 settlers erected a
fake antenna and received military permission to hire a 24-hour on-site
private security guard to watch over it. The guard moved into a trailer
at the foot of the mast, and fenced off the surrounding hilltop; soon
afterwards, his wife and children moved in and connected their home to
water and electricity supplies already there. On 3rd March 2002, five
additional families joined them, and the outpost of Migron formally
came into being. The outpost grew steadily. Since families were already
living onsite, the Israeli Ministry for Construction and Housing built
a Nursery, while some donations from abroad paid for the construction
of a synagogue. Migron is currently the biggest of the 103 outposts
scattered throughout the West Bank. By mid 2006 it comprised of around
150 people perched on the hilltop around a cellular antenna.’
The
installation of the fake mobile phone antenna in this tale marks the
beginning of what eventually becomes total foreign occupation of a
small territory. ‘Art of Occupation’ focuses on this abstract snapshot
of cultural growth by challenging each of the artists exhibiting to do
the same: to occupy their space.
Carefully
chosen because their different working practices already address issues
of space and/or cultural agenda, each artist brings their own personal
incite into what will be a playful investigation into the serious
concepts of occupation laid out in the tale above.
Sharon
Rothbard mentioned, ‘the most explosive ingredients of our time, all
modern utopias and all ancient beliefs (are contained) simultaneously
and instantaneously, bubbling side by side with no precautions’.
The
work exhibited will come from lengthy negotiations between each artist,
looking at how their work integrates, as well as how they mark their
own and each others territorial space within the gallery. These
conversations become part of a process that engenders and becomes part
of the work itself. ‘Art of Occupation’ aims to investigate and reflect
relevant issues of origin, occupancy, space and cultural growth facing
an artist working in London today.
"..occupied
territories should be seen as kind of ‘political plastic’, or as a map
of the relations between all the forces that shaped it.”
Emily Candela
'Fire', 2008
Video rear-projection, tracing paper, masking tape; 1 min 9 sec
 | Cedric Christie ‘Barrier’ after Eyal Weizman, 2008 Fluorescent Light Fittings |
Karen Ay
'Shift', 2008
Mixed media
'Shift' animation
Simon Fraser
The Elevator Project, 2008
Sound Installation
Sound
Engineer, DJ & Musician Simon Fraser presented a site specific
sound composition specially produced for the opening night of ‘Art of
Occupation’.
The elevator project draws upon peoples occupation
of space. Each elevator ride involves a new and different journey that
evokes new thoughts in a varying acoustic, from small passenger lifts
to large goods lifts. Random boxes shared with strangers, or not as the
case may be. Whispers, imposed conversation, or lack of.
By
riding elevators all over London choosing to record these interesting
spaces, capturing on audio these unique moments in time. These journeys
are blended to form a site specific sound-scape of interleaving moments
in spaces, often short lived, and how they were chosen to be occupied
in that brief moment in time. This piece was performed in an elevator
within the gallery space, produced specifically for the ‘Art of
Occupation’ exhibition.
Helene Kazan 
'Mark 1', 2008
Concrete, timber and galvanised steel clout nails
Steve Smith 
‘London Stone – Equivalent VIII, I’
‘London Stone – Equivalent VIII, II’
‘London Stone – Equivalent VIII, III’ 2008
London Stock Bricks