Genesis

Examining structures of human consciousness, artist Michel Platnic has taken our understanding of the world: defined it, translated it, destroyed it.

A project ambitious in content and execution, Platnic examines the role of culture and its subsequent impact on human perspective and understanding. Using the Book of Genesis as the bedrock of global awareness, Platnic presents knowledge as both a gateway and limitation of human autonomy.

Comprised of two video loops running simultaneously, Platnic portrays the creation and destruction of the world, one frame progressing chronologically, while the other frame digresses. Inverting our linear perception of history’s unfolding events, the scenes cannot be consumed independently, a nod to the interdependence of production and demolition.

Carefully tracing the Biblical text, Platnic has replaced each word with a visual symbol- an exercise in the expansion and reduction of communication. A new visual language, Genesis is as much a criticism of representation as it is a champion of it.

Capitalizing on the contradictory nature of knowledge and communication, man is trapped within the language and culture he builds; yet language and culture remain the only escape.

Genesis runs through May 27th at Gordon Gallery.
Hapelech St. Tel Aviv. Tel: +972-3-5290011.

For more information on the artist, visit www.michelplatnic.com.