The 'Yad Rochetzet Yad' event at the Bezalel Gallery is an interactive experience. The audience is on duty and participate in aspects of the performances.
By SUZANNE SELENGUTjib.awards.298.vote(photo credit: )
Collaboration is the theme of "Hand Washing Hand: An Evening of Mixed Senses," an event set to take place this Saturday night at Bezalel Gallery in Tel Aviv. Visual artists, musicians and other performers will work together to create a series of short shows performed in quick succession.
Every piece is the product of cooperation between at least two artists, each of whom takes part in a third piece, in what becomes a "human chain" of creation.
The audience is on duty too. They participate in interactive aspects of the performances, and also walk from room to room, as each piece is recreated in real time.
In addition to the teamwork theme, the performances share a conceptual thread. Each presentation deals with music and its relation to the space it occupies.
The blend of music and visual art is a natural one for producer Alona Rodeh. Her work, which will be featured at the event, involves gym equipment with loudspeakers placed inside. The audience is invited to touch and sit on the equipment, thus feeling the music as they hear it.
A stage and costume designer, Rodeh was inspired to helm the event while collaborating with two musicians on a different project. She explains that sharing is natural for designers, who often work with other artists.
In fashioning such an evening, Rodeh hopes to give performers, as well as audience members, an opportunity to experience the joys of cooperative ventures.
She is also proud of the range of artists in the projects, many of whom come from vastly different sectors of the creative community and are known to different audiences. They include art and music students as well as established artists.
"The show has directors of traditional theater alongside DJs, whose musical creations are known mainly by the late-night club crowd," Rodeh explains.
Efforts at diversity and attracting a new audience are reflected both in the small fee for entrance, 10 shekels, and in the event's poster - a young girl on a carpet experiments with a gun, pointing it at the onlooker.
"The image expresses the vibe of our show - experimental, fresh, something you get involved in," says Rodeh.
The string of performances will take place on Saturday, January 14th at 7:30pm and again at 9:30pm at Bezalel Gallery, Tel Aviv, Salome Street, 60, tel. 03-682-4082.
