The Living Room
Book Presale
Three years ago, I was told that my family home in Beit She’an — the house where my mother grew up and which formed an integral and meaningful part of my own childhood — was to be sold and demolished. Just before it slipped from my hands and disappeared, I decided to return to the house and stay there for several weeks, having the intention to preserve something – I did not yet know what.
The Living Room is an artist’s book in four parts. Each part is guided by texts in Hebrew and their English translation, which travel between the diaristic and the fictional. The first part takes place after the encounter with the empty house, confronted by an event of uncontrollable recollection. Part Two is situated in my studio in Tel Aviv. During this time, I was working on sculptures that physically echoed the house, while continuing to visit it as it was being demolished. The third part marks a moment of reflection; it reveals a conversation between the curator, Smadar Keren, and me, recalling the time we worked on the exhibition at URN Museum, along with installation photos from the show. The final part takes place after the house is gone, while returning to Beit She’an and wondering: Do I still belong to this town, now that the house no longer stands? Now that the bond that tied me to it has unravelled?
Buy the book
Edition of 450 standard copies and 50 special editions, each featuring a unique concrete relief on the cover.
The book spans 268 pages and brings together 39 poetic fragments, a transcribed dialogue between Smadar Keren and Netai Halup, along with drawings, photographs, and collages.
Graphic Concept and Design: Studio Ayal Zakin, Tamar Plinner Content Editing: Dr Ayelet Carmi Linguistic Editing: Inbar Offer Translation to English: Asaf Calderon
Every copy out of the 500 includes hand-cut pages, exposing underlying layers.