Foto Friday – Fresh Paint

April 30, 2010 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Art, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Pop Culture, Travel 

The third Fresh Paint contemporary Israeli art fair opens next week, on May 5–8, 2010, at the newly renovated Warehouse 1 in the Old Jaffa Port. Since its inauguration two years ago, Fresh Paint has become Israel’s largest and most influential art event, bringing together all of the most significant players in the Israeli art world and supported by the country’s leading art institutions. It’s kind of a crazy art madhouse with tens of thousands of visitors from Israel and elsewhere.

As in previous years, Fresh Paint’s organizers asked each participating artist to create a post-card sized artwork for a project entitled The Secret Postcard, modeled after the Royal College of Art’s successful sale in London. Of course, Fresh Paint’s deal with aspects of Israeli reality:

Politics…

Leisure time…

History…

Progress…

And the existential, solid as a floor tile, fleeting as a steaming hot cup of tea.

The postcards are put on display and sold on a first-come, first-served basis at the uniform price of NIS 180. But there’s catch: the works are exhibited anonymously. Only afterwards do the buyers find out whether their purchase was created by a young up-and-comer or an already well-known artist. This year’s selection of 1,400 postcards includes works by over 700 artists, including well known names like Menashe Kadishman, Yair Garbuz, David Tartakover, Johanan Herson and Yehudit Sasportas. All proceeds from the project fund scholarships for youth from underprivileged backgrounds who excel in the arts, enabling them to study at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art’s Education Center program. All the postcards can also be viewed online.

Fresh paint 3 will include a silent auction of a work by the well-known Israeli artist Lea Nikel. All proceedings from the sale will go to finance art workshops for children with cancer hospitalized at the Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer.

All works by Fresh Paint 3’s independent artists are available for purchase at the fair, with revenue for these works passed directly to the artists on a commission-free basis.

This is one event definitely worth visiting. For better or for worse, it provides insight into the art scene and, for a fair price, you can support our local artists. Plus, it’s fun! And once you’re done with Fresh Paint, dinner at Doctor Shakshouka will make for a perfect night.

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Video billboard raises a storm

April 30, 2010 by · 3 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, education, Environment, General, Israeliness, Life, Social Justice 

The sign in question, at the entrance to the city.

Big news in my sleepy ‘burb of Jerusalem. There’s one of those video advertising billboards that has been erected at the traffic circle when you enter the fair city.

Unlike similar electronic signs, in Tel Aviv, for instance, which are at intersections with lights where people are captive for a minute or two, this sign can grab the attention of the motorist for a 10-15 second span at best. So there’s a slew of ‘fast forward’ mini-ads and announcements that dominate the screen – ranging from PSAs like “Free Gilad Schalit” messages and local municipality messages to paid advertising for products and services.

It’s kind of an annoying and garish blight on the entrance to the city, which is beautifully landscaped and generally a sight to behold. But, I’m sure the municipality is making some well-needed income for the city coffers, so it’s no big deal. Or so I thought, until the local English-language chat group in town started receiving posts about the video sign.

First and foremost were complaints about advertisements for alcohol and cigarettes, this in a town which prides itself on its education values and teaching kids to stay on the straight and narrow. Right behind that was the ‘accident waiting to happen’ traffic hazard caused by drivers getting mesmerized by the ads as they drive through the traffic circle.

Those complaints were countered by responses defending the city’s freedom of speech right to allow advertising, and a lively debate has ensued. The upshot is that there’s likely to be a grassroots effort to get the city to either – A: Remove the sign totally or B: Remove ads deemed offensive. Who’s going to determine which ads are offensive?
Stay tuned.

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The Tile Dance

April 30, 2010 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Israeliness 

It’s been four years since we finished our shiputz – that’s Hebrew for “home renovation.” During the grueling five months of work, we learned everything you can possibly imagine about painting, plumbing and parquet floors. But over time, we mercifully forgot most of the details we’d so painstakingly acquired. Until now.

I’ve written before about our leaky roof and how we have to replace and insulate the floor on the terrace above the kitchen ceiling which has been ravaged by retivut. First stop on renovation road: buying new tiles.

Now, my wife Jody and I are consummate comparison shoppers, so we visited some half dozen “ceramics” stores: large tastefully done warehouses packed full of all things porcelain – toilets, bathtubs and of course tiles. They had to be intended for use outdoors – that meant “anti-slip” or something not too smooth.

We found many beautiful options but the prices were higher than we’d budgeted for. We would tell the salesperson that and invariably he (or in one case she) would scamper away to some mysterious back room where presumably he would convene with the pricing powers that be before returning with a new “final” amount.

And that amount wouldn’t look anything like what was written on the price tag. Discounts of 30-40% were automatic without even needing to bargain. A momentary hem or haw and the price would drop again. In one case, the price cut we were told was only if we “ordered right now,” but it was clear as we left the store to check out another establishment that the discount would be waiting for us if we returned the next day.

The pricing dance was made all the more complicated because in some stores VAT (value added tax) was included and in others it wasn’t. 16% can make a big difference.

Our last stop was a ceramics depot called Aloni in the Jerusalem Talpiot Industrial Zone. We were greeted by Avi, a graying salesperson with buckteeth and a wild look in his eyes. We quickly honed in on a terracotta tile, but the price was the highest we’d seen so far.

Avi did the usual charade, running off to calculate the automatic reduction. It turned out he owned the store and offered us “a manager’s discount,” which was 50% off to start plus free delivery with a crane. We mentioned that our contractor was bringing his own crane and the price instantly dropped another 10%, still including delivery.

The price was the lowest we’d seen in our searching and the tiles were lovely. Avi hooked us and we signed a few minutes later.

I’m still baffled by the pricing game. If the cost always drops by such an extreme amount and everything’s so eminently fluid, why even post a price at all? Is it all about snaring that one rich sucker who the salesperson can size up in a second and who will pay in full?

We’re delighted with our discount, but it won’t affect the bottom line much: the full renovation is running more than twice a month’s salary. And unfortunately, salaries don’t work the same way as tiles; I’ve never yet met a boss who will excuse himself for a moment, only to return with an automatic 50% raise.

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Burning down the house

April 28, 2010 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Life 

Lag B’Omer, the holiday of bonfires and bows and arrows is just about upon us, as witnessed by the recent afternoon activities of kids aged six through 16, or so. Ever since the counting of the omer began on Passover, kids can be seen pushing supermarket carts — clearly ‘borrowed’ for the occasion — around every neighborhood, gathering large and small pieces of wood that will eventually be burned in scores of bonfires this coming Saturday night.

When I say large pieces of wood, I really mean large, as in doors, tables, planks of wood from God-knows-where, and other sundry slabs of wood that clearly come from various construction sites. I can vouch for that as well, now that I witnessed a bunch of kids scrounging around an unfinished building on a nearby street the other day. They were literally tearing wood off the temporary platform and door jambs, and you kind of wondered whether the building would keep standing. And this just in: A local acquaintance just facebooked that a bunch of kids made off with an old but still useful teak table that was in her backyard, assuming that it was up for grabs…

But no matter, because it’s all for the cause of the bonfire, which must be large and long-lasting, with plenty of fire time for baking potatoes and onions and toasting marshmallows. Good, clean fun, except for the part about ransacking construction sites.

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Graffiti overcomes Kassams in Sderot

April 28, 2010 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, coexistence, design, General, Israeliness, Life, Social Justice 

Fixing a hole - one of the urban artists from Artists 4 Israel in Sderot. (Photo: Ron Friedman)

Residents of Sderot, who for years were under bombardment by Hamas-launched rockets, haven’t had much color in their lives. And even though the skies are generally (but not always) quiet now, the city’s bomb shelters which dot the landscape at every possible angle provide plenty indications that life there is very precarious.

That’s why an international group of graffiti artists under the Artists 4 Israel moniker have descended upon the southern city to brighten up the surroundings and give the residents of Sderot some color back in their lives.

“Unfortunately, people here have to live with bomb shelters. We’re here doing a little something to bring some color to something that’s here for an ugly reason,” said American graffiti artist Cycle, summing up to The Jerusalem Post the aim of the group’s “Murality Project’ mission to Israel.

The 25 urban artists from the United States, Spain, Mexico and Israel, including some of the top names in New York City urban art, have been decorating the city’s bomb shelters for a couple days already beautifying the bombarded city’s public bomb shelters.

“You can still feel the tension in the air. People aren’t at ease,” Texas graffiti artist Saul Schister told The Post.

“One of the artists was working with headphones on, listening to music, and a resident came up to him and yelled at him. He told him that it was dangerous because with the headphones on, he wouldn’t be able to hear the sirens,” said Schister. “I guess that for them, these bomb shelters on every street are a constant reminder that they live in a war zone.”

An Israeli artist who goes by the name of Psycho said that the experience was even special for him – because he wasn’t used to painting public buildings with the permission of the municipality.

“I used to paint illegally, but then I was caught by the police. Since then I’ve been doing commissioned work,” he said. “I don’t really care about the politics. For me it’s more about the art. But I know that the people here have had a rough time and if my work can help, I’m happy to do it. So far people’s reactions have been really positive. Some people have even asked if we can come paint their house.”

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