MATAN ASHENAZY: DAILY RANGE
scopio aboveground: territory
This body of work includes color photographs done in Israel with an 8x10/4x5 plate camera between 2009-2012. The images deal with confined space within the natural environment aesthetically, politically and construct wise. A feeling of being activated and controlled around the Israeli space and laws as a citizen drove me to photograph objects and views that function as backgrounds, looking at the mundane and everyday within this unique and rudimentary landscape.
Depicting the effects of human behavior in the landscape, and by observing outside of the 'event', the photographs isolate the objects from the narrative of time, undermining context and scale. These images are made in the void that exists between military and civilian life. These places are found both in the cities and the countryside, and the photographs investigate how the boundaries between civilian and military have become blurred.
The fragile landscape and the brutalist architecture create a monotone landscape within what was a vibrant place. The use of ecru' - beige colors indicate ways of looking and searching monochrome grey within color photography, as a tool for representing these fictionalized environments and using photography as a medium to give place for thought.
Ultimately the devices being used in Israel are being used all around the world to less or greater degree and it is this political use of landscape that interests me and is currently the theme of my work. Although the work depicts a specific place, the research is about policing landscapes and controlling spaces everywhere.
Contact
matanashkenazy@gmail.com