Maayan Sophia Weisstub
Location: London
Education: Royal College of Art
Biography
Maayan Sophia Weisstub (born 1992) is an interdisciplinary artist, graduate of the Royal College of Art. Weisstub was included in the 24th Gabrovo Biennial of Humor and Satire in Art and has shown at the Lothringer13 Halle (Munich), Pavlov’s Dog (Berlin), and Omer Tiroche (London). Her work has also been featured in “WhiteHot” magazine, “Kaltbult” magazine,” Design Taxi” and many more.
Submitted work
Title: Mnēmē
About the work
Mnēmē, is an installation/Kinetic sculpture, comprised of a desk, a chair, a book and a glass of milk. Each object is subtly breathing in different rhythms.
In my work the objects, which could be the only presence in isolation, breathe softly, as a reminder of life and its fragility. The fear of sickness and death sent us all to social isolation and I found myself alone, in an unknown environment. My experience was not unique, but it felt very lonely. Many people were in a very vulnerable position, and rates of depression and anxiety multiplied. In our inability to accept our impotence in face of finality of death humans have always projected life into still life.
Any life starts and ends with breath. Even in normal times breath is influenced by our mental state. During the Coronavirus pandemic that natural and automatic function became a primary symptom and a focus of awareness and anxiety.
The pandemic restrictions forced us to enhance virtual communication in many fields, such as art, medicine, education and more. I believe there is no substitute for real and intimate human interaction and hence my work is not virtual, it emphasises the need for physical presence with another, listening tuning into his/her reality whether inanimate or alive. My work offers to viewers an intimate encounter with this possibility.
