Alona Rodeh's Neither Day Nor Night was specially constructed for the space it was located in, the -1 level of the Helena Rubinstein Pavilion for Contemporary Art at Tel Aviv Museum of Art, where it was shown within the exhibition Showtime.
In the darkened space is a wide chess patterned wooden stage, and a reflective pleated curtain located at it’s far end. Low-toned music, synchronized with changing lights, emanates from the loudspeakers set into the floor. The music playing is a contemporary adaptation of Erik Satie’s, Gymnopédie #1 (1988). Originally composed for piano, this adaptation is for tuba, the lowest-pitched brass instrument. The result is simultaneously harmonious and disharmonious, transforming the familiar into the unusual and creating a sense of expansion into a fantastic dimension.
The introduction of the element of time and duration into the space momentarily transforms it into an abandoned basement, a spectacular banquet hall, or a senseless exhibition space featuring an architectural model reminiscent of the Parthenon.
The work’s title refers to a state of negation – one that defies definition and verges on collapse; a space that produces suspension, expectation and unfulfilled longing. The title also charges the work with a mystical dimension as the origin of the expression 'Neither day nor night' is the Prophecy of Zechariah, familiar through its appearance at the end of the Passover Haggadah. The poem describes a day when light will shine in the middle of the night and refers to the End of Days, when there will no longer be days or nights, when time will exceed its own limits.
The exhibition Showtime focused on artists who approach sound in a visual manner and on works that deliver sound as a physical presence in space. In addition to the presence of sound, which was incorporated into the works on view, the works also examined, each in a different manner, the concept of the 'show', while conceptually and physically deconstructing it within the exhibition space. The exhibition included three large installations, each of which was displayed on a separate floor of the Helena Rubinstein Pavilion.Other participating artists were Janet Cardiff and Naama Tsabar.
ON VIEW: 2nd August - 23rd November 2013
A work by Alona Rodeh was donated to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art collectively by the artist and Outset Contemporary Art Fund.
