              
VACUUM MEMORIES
By Dalit Anolik, independent curator
www.dalitanolik.com
In the work ‘Vacuum Memories’ Merav Ezer deals with the notion of memory and explores her own relationship with the element of time. Ezer converts the temporary into permanent by using the medium of vacuum to create plastic molds of her personal objects. The artist states that for her, vacuum is "quiet, white space, nothing, departure and alienation."
The molds are a negative of lost information, they are mementos of the artist's life and her own private history, perhaps to serve in future archaeology. In Vacuum Memories, the object itself does not exist since it was substitute with its own shape. What remains are clues which serve as an aid in the conceptual reconstruction of the enigmatic narratives of something that was, but now is gone. However, these unknown narratives might as well belong to anyone, as we all have one of those vacuumed objects: a scarf, shoe, cigarette or a hat. Each viewer attaches his/her own association and thus creating a communal memory.
Ezer touches the abstract and her art eliminates the ephemeral aspect of time. Air, the main substance that creates Vacuum Memories, is compatible to the notion of time; they are both intangible and yet they are very much felt and leave their marks on our lives. Vacuum Memories is divided into two mediums: three dimensional objects and prints. The first are plastic relief works, positioned on wooded containers. The plastic objects are illuminated by the back by white fluorescent light. The illumination emerging from within the crate, can invoke the feeling of a mausoleum, and thus convert the gallery into a side chapel in a modern day place of worship. These boxed illuminators function as a sort of a memorial tomb.
The second set is "The Blue Series," comprised of a set of digital prints enlarged to 13"X19." This work further experiences the notion of ‘loss’ as the original object is absent; it has completely disappeared and what remains is its documentation via photography. The object’s three-dimensionality has been flattened to a two-dimension plane, further removing away from the idea of an entity. Space has vanished and is replaced with merely a memory of an object that was once surrounded by space. The frozen-in-time articles are commemorated by their own image.
‘Vacuum Memories’ is an exceptional work of art. It is not only touching and full of emotion but also aesthetically and visually beautiful.
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