Lost in Translation

American films are everywhere. Television allows anyone on the face of the earth to watch them. Hollywood films, though considered entertainment, also inevitably influence views, positions, and lifestyles. Hollywood preaches secularism, consumerism, presentability, and an accelerated pace of life. Disney films weave mythical stories around cardboard identities. While seeming to extol the values of multiculturalism, they in fact erase existing differences. Due to its infinite reach, this cultural intervention is deeper than anything we have known in previous forms of colonization.

The theory of cultural imperialism argues that the transfer of technologies, services, and commodities from the West to third world countries perpetuates dependency and prevents the development of local cultures. Unique patterns of supply and demand are set by the dominant culture, thereby turning the local culture into its submissive extension. Cultural imperialism is based for the most part on the means of communication. Media ownership, distribution mechanisms, and media contents are mostly in the hands of one country (the United States). Thereby, values and norms are introduced into the local culture that influence it and eventually lead to its demise.

The works in this show seek to indicate a hollow, consumer-oriented trans-cultural world created by the unchallenged dominance of globalization. A representative study case of this phenomenon is the Nigerian film industry ("Nollywood"), which occupies a special place in this exhibition. Nigerian actors appear in the glamorous trappings of Hollywood cinema. These works examine the multiple meanings involved in the import of commodities, customs, cultures, and people, and the aggression involved in its implantation, as a reflection of contemporary cultural imperialism.

The artists present the conflict between Israeli identity and globalism. Their works examine the highly extroverted characteristics of the American media world with reference to cultural icons such as Superman. The artists use contradictory strategies: the legendary hero they present is depicted with exaggerated drama, but his performance is muddled or pathetic. They thereby offer an ironic gaze on the Tel Aviv scene and its attempt to imitate New York. The great stars of the silver screen arrive in Tel Aviv weakened and damaged, and all their wealth and magnificence cannot conceal the poverty and human frailty. 

Photographs of film stars on billboards can be found in the entrance hall of any cinema in Israel, as in every place where Hollywood films are screened worldwide. With regard to Israeli culture in the age of globalization, the artists ironically present the desire for other, seductive worlds. In the local context this desire cannot be fulfilled, since its representations are marked by carelessness, improvisation, and a lack of attention to detail. All these create a sense of impermanence and fragility, as characteristics that accompany the ongoing quest for something larger than life.

Participating artists: Nir Hod, Pieter Hugo, Alex Levac, Doron Solomons, Iké Udé, Dana Zonshine