Galerie Mezzanin

A process of wrapping followed by the necessity of unfolding is at

the center of Etti Abergel’s work.

The physical use of covering materials – fabrics, strings,

masking tape, cardboard, cement and plaster – implies

awareness of the versatile nuances dormant in these otherwise

mute materials. The felt experience evoked by materials is crucial

to Abergel’s visual vocabulary.

In her continuous attempt to wring an impact from such

basic elements, Abergel relies on close reference to childhood

experiences and their transformation in memory over time in

a way not far removed from the computer process of “wrapping

around,” referring to the ability to treat a linear sequence of

memory locations as a continuous circular series. This is the

equivalent of the physical realization of her work. Any attempt,

therefore, to designate a linear progression in understanding her

work is certain to fail. The fragile balance of materials, associations

and time creates a potential of various possible “meanings.”

Decoding Abergel’s work requires acute awareness of the

unseen: the substitution of white paint for color, which has

the effect of obscuring the contours of the physical presences

beneath, is an immediate example. These “erasures” turn out to

be analogous to intervals in music, mute yet significant silences

necessary to provide sound with both meaning and interpretation.

In a similar sense, this blurring of contours forces the viewer to

pause in viewing in order to complete, or make sense of the form

being contemplated, in the mind’s eye.

Abergel’s frequent use of erasure is closely related to the use of

time in its mundane, ordinary sense, the long time invested in

arriving at a starting point, “zero hour,” the orientation point,

of knowing how to proceed. This investment of time does not

“count” and is considered erased. This increases our awareness

of the essential part such time plays in each and every person’s

life. A key issue is the underlying realization of processes in

both formal and conceptual terms alongside of each other, while

neither is superior to the other.

“Potential” is a key word in the process of her work, and

refers to something yet to be actualized. Etti Abergel’s work

veers between future, present and past, weaving a loose net

of connections between obvious poles, encapsulating energy,

associations and tones. She fabricates all these into a network of

echoes of recollection, an archive of semi-forgotten and yet-tobe-

forgotten moments.

 

 

Dr. Vered Zafran is the curator of the Tel Aviv Artists’ Studios

 

from: Installation Diary, Etti Abergel