GENETICS OF OBJECTS 2 /2013

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When I found out I was pregnant I asked myself how I could I recount or convey fragments of memory and heritage from my grandmother Rivka to my daughter Ya'arah. The memory of was my grandmother is mixed with stories and proverb that were always on her lips, the unique dishes she used to prepare her expression that spoke volumes without words. Against these, there is a pile objects left after her death. Some are significant, tell a story, others - nondescript - found their way to the trash when her apartment was cleaned out. I tried to figure out a way to express memory in a tangible way, allow an object she owned to express something in my present. I wanted portray the continuity it embodies, in the belief that it outlines aspects my identity that will pass from me to the next generation.

When my grandmother passed away, it seemed that of all the household objects the family was only interest the copperware she owned. Brass objects, adorned with copper and silver in a technique called 'Damask inlay', most of which were made by Uncle Jacob, who raised her from childhood. The copperwares were evenly distributed among her children, who find in them, significance that outweighs the monetary value: they do not allow anyone to take them outside from the house. This technical stipulation motivated my work: I had to find ways to reproduce the information in their houses. Like in a library or a restricted archive, I had to perform a manual copying of information on site.

In order to reproduce copperwares I searched for the object's DNA, the essence and essence of the information it conveys and that wish to remember. Through conversion and disruption of the copperwares, I sought to trace the amorphous structure of the family's memory, bring to life and express the familial narrative using new means and materials. The project, which deals with bequeathed objects, examines whether it is possible to distill genetics of legacy, heritage and memory from objects.