Curator: Ilana Tenenbaum
The video works by Chen Sheinberg displayed in this exhibition examine the daily gestures performed by human hands, the manner in which they are imprinted with the passage of time, and their expressive subtleties. The information embedded in small, quotidian details becomes a form of poetic expression, which attempts to bring back to consciousness images neglected by the visual culture we are accustomed to. What is revealed in this manner is a charged, sometimes even strange or threatening world, as if the hands had become independent entities, detached from the body and living a life of their own.
Sheinberg frequently films his works while following passersby through the urban sphere. For the most part, his films are characterized by long shots that document everyday, routine activities without cutting or editing, while abandoning any semblance of a narrative or of cinematic norms. The works in this exhibition were filmed in a similar way - as a series of long shots that were not directed in an intentional manner; they constitute a continuous form of staring, thus producing situations whose meaning is at the threshold of dissolving.
The palms projected parallel to one another create an experience of intense embodiment, and delineate a range of connections. One of the most noticeable axes is the axis of time, which underscores their human, existential dimension. The early stages of the cycle of life are represented in the small, separate space, where the wrinkled hand of a newborn baby is projected, acquiring a primeval, almost animal quality. The axis of time is also evident in the rest of the hands - most of which belong to older people traveling on public transportation or waiting throughout the urban sphere. Their hand movements are characteristically sudden, casual and distracted, expressing a range of emotions that stand out in contrast to the tumult of life in the background. The dimension of time is also clearly represented through the meticulous actions of a young watchmaker repairing mechanical watches - an action which contrasts the contemporary world of technology and the world of traditional manual crafts.
The estrangement of human expression in Sheinberg's images is thus revealed through the direct act of documentation, which isolates a detail from reality. It makes evident that the hand has the power to give expression to less conscious parts of the human psyche, in contrast to other body parts of which people tend to be more aware - such as the face, whose expressions are the immediate showcase for one's personality and social persona. The focus on this part of the body thus constitutes a window opening onto the essence of humanity and of its less conscious aspects, and providing a concentrated expression of hidden human information.