Eliran Dahan was an Outset Studiomakers Tel Aviv guest in 2022.
Consisting of sculptural elements and digital works, Eliran Dahan’s installation raises quandaries about the effectiveness of present-day therapy and means of self-care. Images originating in Internet culture and manipulated with 3D software and artificial intelligence, are displayed alongside inanimate objects endowed with human qualities, placing an ironic mirror before them. The entire array introduces the illusion of recovery and realization of potential.
The magic touch of code language reveals and reinforces the essence of the material, and yet, in their algorithmic elusiveness, the works remain voided and hard to grasp. In their emptied state they converge into a critical comment about contemporary reality.
A safety orange-coloured table shaped like the Greek letter lowercase phi supplemented with a minus sign, which in Lacanian jargon indicates castration (minus phallus), is installed in the centre of the space. The table serves as a toolbox for storing survival essentials (Everyday Carry, EDC), and is embedded with items that symbolize barren use. Next to the table is a fountain made of Neti pots alongside stainless steel constructions and white noise machines used for relaxation and concentration, "masquerading" as watchdogs; scattered throughout the space are challenge coins and key tags indicating membership in groups and associations that offer rehab, redemption, belonging, and status.
Even the title of the installation, Just for Today, is a well-known mantra in the "12 steps" protocol of support groups such as Narcotics Anonymous. The slogan promises the patient a day without fears, in which he is protected by guidelines that lead him to himself; one more day when he will experience a life without dependency and live in the present.
ON VIEW: 15th December 2022 - 29th April 2023
