Noy Haimovitz and Tamir Erlich invite us to enter a space where objects that speak the language of domesticity and safety while simultaneously perpetuating and underscoring the dangers lurking outside, which may or may not be real. Ranging from the purposeful to the decorative, these objects, which incorporate styles and trends of different decades, are blends of memory of the past and fear of the future to come.

The directive sign placed at the entrance to the exhibition space, “Never Lose Your Head And…,” is based on rules of conduct for survival of civilians in improvised, DIY fashion in the event of a nuclear attack. Such instructions were published by the US authorities in dozens of books and pamphlets during the Cold War. These publications – which included instructions for creating, among other things, sleeping solutions and devices for filtering radioactive water, and offered advice regarding nutrition, health, and leisure under apocalyptic conditions – served the artists as a guide or model in producing their project.

The absolute directive “Never Lose Your Head” is almost unattainable. It highlights the contradiction at the heart of the exhibition, where any attempt by the individual to exhibit control during a crisis becomes a manifestation of terror and anxiety – turning, in fact, into a monument representing the crisis itself.

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