The three photographs depicting an ostensibly deserted facility are most reminiscent of décor for an amateur play: made of painted wooden boards, the “structures” are built according to a clearly erroneous scale, both in relation to one another and in relation to their real size. Kremer documents the facility dismantled and abandoned, as ruins representing the state of Arab villages which were deserted. The facility is made to simulate an Arab village by means of painted graphic signs and the use of Arab script, exposing our fears and terror of the enemy.
The aforementioned trio is juxtaposed with a different looking photograph taken in another FIBUA training facility, likewise located in Ze’elim, not far from the first. Constructed in recent years with considerable budget, the facility appears at first sight like “the real thing.” The use of proper building materials, lighting, and scale between the mosques, streets and houses reflects the new conception which strives to simulate the authentic sensory experience of entry into an Arab village as faithfully as possible.

Shai Kremer was born in Israel, 1974. Lives and works in New York.

Courtesy of Julie M Gallery, Tel Aviv

Less Reading...