The English introduction to the book Divine Gesture
Judaism is an oral tradition. While the text of the Bible, the physical scripture of the Torah scrolls, is among the holiest objects in Judaism, it is the oral teaching of the text—the discussion, the exegesis, and, most importantly, the story telling—which makes it relevant for each generation. It is for this reason that the telling of Bible stories and commandments are emphasized, that the communal meal of Passover is given such importance, and that one is eulogized with comparisons to Biblical figures. The oral storytelling animates the words in our world. We interact with them. We are defined by them. We become them. It is this transformation which is the focus of Divine Gesture.
These images are the result of over a year’s work with the students of Ramaz, an Orthodox Jewish high school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, from which Rabhan graduated and where she taught art for over a decade. There is no better setting to investigate this transformation than a high school. Here, as these teenagers begin to define themselves, the influence of the oral stories of Judaism—told to them since infancy—become all the more apparent. The students reenact Bible stories of significance to them and in so doing bring them to life in their own high school context. While the result is an image, it is the discussion of the story between Rabhan and the students which creates it. While the images are tableaus, they are made in an active atmosphere. It is the conflation of precise care and spontaneity which gives these images emotion and energy, presence and power.
Three types of images are represented in the work. The miraculous are images which have suspended the confines of reality. They exist outside of time and space. The dramatic are images which detail the complex social dynamics of the characters involved in the stories. They exist within the context of daily lives. The spiritual are portraits which depict the students’ personal connection to the Biblical character they have chosen to become. They exist within the mind and spirit of the student. In creating these three types of images the sacred merges with the casual and the theatric with the subconscious.
There are two entrances provided into this work reinforced by the symmetry of the book’s design. The book is meant to be read both left to right as an English book, and also right to left as a Hebrew book. In dividing the book into halves, the binaries of dark and light, and girl and boy are examined. Each image is coupled with another from the opposite end of the book, which reveals sometimes surprising interpretations of the stories based on graphic and aesthetic concerns alone.
While the community of Ramaz is small and insular, the emotions and relationships revealed are universal. These images, through the structure of the book, invite viewers, both Jewish and non-Jewish alike, to identify with the images and each other. The dialogue continues...
By Josh Ring
Ramaz class of ‘03
Judaism is an oral tradition. While the text of the Bible, the physical scripture of the Torah scrolls, is among the holiest objects in Judaism, it is the oral teaching of the text—the discussion, the exegesis, and, most importantly, the story telling—which makes it relevant for each generation. It is for this reason that the telling of Bible stories and commandments are emphasized, that the communal meal of Passover is given such importance, and that one is eulogized with comparisons to Biblical figures. The oral storytelling animates the words in our world. We interact with them. We are defined by them. We become them. It is this transformation which is the focus of Divine Gesture.
These images are the result of over a year’s work with the students of Ramaz, an Orthodox Jewish high school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, from which Rabhan graduated and where she taught art for over a decade. There is no better setting to investigate this transformation than a high school. Here, as these teenagers begin to define themselves, the influence of the oral stories of Judaism—told to them since infancy—become all the more apparent. The students reenact Bible stories of significance to them and in so doing bring them to life in their own high school context. While the result is an image, it is the discussion of the story between Rabhan and the students which creates it. While the images are tableaus, they are made in an active atmosphere. It is the conflation of precise care and spontaneity which gives these images emotion and energy, presence and power.
Three types of images are represented in the work. The miraculous are images which have suspended the confines of reality. They exist outside of time and space. The dramatic are images which detail the complex social dynamics of the characters involved in the stories. They exist within the context of daily lives. The spiritual are portraits which depict the students’ personal connection to the Biblical character they have chosen to become. They exist within the mind and spirit of the student. In creating these three types of images the sacred merges with the casual and the theatric with the subconscious.
There are two entrances provided into this work reinforced by the symmetry of the book’s design. The book is meant to be read both left to right as an English book, and also right to left as a Hebrew book. In dividing the book into halves, the binaries of dark and light, and girl and boy are examined. Each image is coupled with another from the opposite end of the book, which reveals sometimes surprising interpretations of the stories based on graphic and aesthetic concerns alone.
While the community of Ramaz is small and insular, the emotions and relationships revealed are universal. These images, through the structure of the book, invite viewers, both Jewish and non-Jewish alike, to identify with the images and each other. The dialogue continues...
By Josh Ring
Ramaz class of ‘03
