Artist Lecture #3: Shimon Attie

Due to my Jewish heritage, I felt a bond between myself and Shimon Attie's work. The first piece he presented, "The Writing on the Wall" was created in one of Berlin's former Jewish quarter. Attie projected old historical images of former Jewish buisnesses and homeowners on the remaining buildings. He would these moments at nightime using color slide film and a very slow shutter speed. The result of this were powerful ghostly images. I could not recognize any of the samples of historical images, but somehow I felt deeply connected. This may be due to my Jewish upbringing, and numerous trips to the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C and Yad Vashem, the memorial museum in Israel. Since I was a child, I have always have been exposed to these historial images. I felt that Attie's work was very symbolic. Attie spoke that he saw this piece as, "time burning through the facade of the present."

In 1995, Attie worked in Coppenhagen to produce "Portraits of Exile" which was shown infront of the Danish Parliament building. He built 9 large underwater light boxes which contained imagery of refugees. He explained that his presentation under water was due to the various implications of water as a means of transit, safety and immigration. He also saw water as a medium of memory and described the work as "almost like fish csoming up for air but not making it." Attie showed us this piece on a video recording but I feel like this artwork is somethig that must be seen in person. The physical image of the piece constantly changes due to the weather, the ripples of the canal and the fish that swim directly above the piece.

With each presenation of artwork, Attie described briefly the historical background of each piece. I was mystified by the stories and information, many of which was new to me. Attie's video installation, "The Attraction of Onlookers: Aberfan, an Anatomy of a Welsh Village" was created to commermorate the 40th Anniversary of the tragedy of this Welsh Village. In 1966, Aberfan, a small Welsh Village suffered from a tragedy which Attie compared to as a, "Welsh Pompei," 120 chidren were immediatly killed by an accidental man made avalance of coal runoff which consumed the only elemtary school. This event robbed the village of their privacy, and from then on they were plagued by the media which bombarded the town. The village commissioned Attie to do this piece to somehow commemorate the event in a new light. Attie worked directly with the villagers to create this artpiece. The villagers were filmed in their community role within the village, as the village dancer, mayor, hardcore singer or sometimes in groups on a rotating stage. The subjects were beautifully lit and held stagnant poses as they were rotated for the film. The imagery was paired with somber music, which made it seem like a disturbing music box. Attie's goal was to help the village universalize it's story and to work as a guide towards normality.

The only thing that bothered me about Attie's presentation of his work was how he reffered to his subjects within the piece. "Every Welsh village has a dancer..." "Every Welsh village has a Southeast Asian Store Owner..." This seemed very stereotypical and made me question his claims to feeling a very strong trie to this village. Overall, Shimon Attie's work is a reminder of the progression and change we have made from our past. He requests us to rekindle and hold on to dear memories, something that will be successful for communal thoughts and dreams.