In Arif-Galanti’s photographs similar mundane objects appear in a manner immediately reminiscent of the works of past artists. Like the works of the past, they are characterized by great attention to detail, meticulous composition and precise lighting. By this, the artist – who says that she is challenging the “boundaries of beauty,” namely the point where flowering ends and withering begins – ostensibly continues the tradition of those artists. “Subversive” elements, however, creep into these objects so highly prevalent in the classical works: the portrait of Homer Simpson amidst ancient books replaces the “original” Homer (the link to art history is emphasized by an issue of the periodical Kunst und Kunstler); a price tag (including expiration date and barcode) ostensibly forgotten on a slice of hard cheese; a battery attached to three shriveled cherries, together forming an image that may recall a plastic explosive with an operating mechanism.

The incorporation of these “inferior” products among objects befitting the high art of the past is not only an illusion and a humorous allusion, but also a type of protest and critical statement about mass culture in our time; a culture of intense, compulsive consumerism, where products are often bought only to be replaced before long by other products that have become trendier and are considered “In”. The contrast between the relatively cheap product of our time and the products of the past evokes a yearning for another period, possibly more stable in its values (artistic values included), when our grandparents bought products “for life.”

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