The Canaries, The way we survive, Petach Tikva Museum of art, August-December 2021, Curator: Irena Gordon

Storm, 2020. 11:00 minutes. Single channel video. No sound.

Storm is a one shot featuring palm trees swaying in the wind at the onset of a storm, the brink of a catastrophic occurrence.

Info: The way we survive, Petach Tikva Museum of art, IL, 2021. Curated by Irena Gordon.

The Canaries, 2021. 17:41 minutes. Two channel video installation.

The work Canaries addresses memory and oblivion, and the attempt to bring them to the fore and introduce the connection between memory of the past and consciousness of the present through the visual and auditory means of video art. Jasmin Vardi’s two-channel video bypasses language by activating flashes of light pulsing at 40 Hz, which is said to cause the brain to release a surge of signaling chemicals that can help fight Alzheimer’s disease—a chronic degenerative disease that impairs memory. Simultaneously showing, the video Storm features palm trees swaying in the wind at the onset of a storm—exotic nature on the brink of a catastrophic occurrence.

Vardi weaves several narratives together related to exploitation and oppression, colonialism and war, as well as the dependent, survivalist connection between man and nature, man and animal: the mining of diamonds and other natural resources, which in some places in the world is still done by exploiting child labor; or the story of the canaries, which were brought to Europe in the 15th century by Spanish sailors, and served coal miners to warn against the presence of toxic gases in the mines. In this context, the phrase “canary in a coal mine” alludes to someone or something that is an early warning of an impending crisis; and the term “climate canary” refers to a species that is the first to be affected by environmental damage, thereby serving as warning to other species. Another key narrative focuses on the Barbary apes of Gibraltar—the tiny British territory at the tip of the Iberian Peninsula, which also controls the Strait of Gibraltar, that in ancient times marked the end of the world in the eyes of Europeans, and was an ongoing focus of colonial conflicts, myths, and legends. One legend has it that the Barbary apes reached the Gibraltar cliff from Morocco through a hidden underwater passage linking the continents.

Vardi intertwines shots she photographed in different places and times with found footage, constructing two similar yet different loops—documentary narratives repeated obsessively. This repetition, which simulates the processes of memory and forgetting experienced by everyone, reminds us which narrative we have forgotten or chosen to repress, forget, and send to oblivion.

The Canaries_Excerpt:

Credits: Sound Design: Daniel Meir