Noam Ben-jacov

Videos

Body-sculptures / Performances

When developing the sculptural idea I always assist myself with this wooden pop I call Leo which in fact has become the indispensable Leo.
Due to the complex and frustrating process that is by nature part of the whole creation of this ‘body– sculpture’ I often need to put much time into the learning and understanding of the technical mechanisms and restrictions which appear throughout creating body sculptures which later on becoming part of the body-sculptural work.
I need much time; time so it all can function as one sculptural unit when the dancer/mover can explore and move her/himself without too much restrictions /difficulty.
Finally, I just used the process, demonstrating it as a study for another ‘body-sculpture.

Room 1986-87
this body-sculpture has been created between 1986-‘87, just after I landed in the Netherlands and got accepted into the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam.
My ‘landing’ in the Netherlands and all what comes with it were not that ‘bright nor easy’…
I had to learn to adapt to a very different culture, from the outside looking smooth and happy but…after a little…can be rather rigid +++, sometime… (and all what is inside this ‘packet’).
It was the first time I was introduced fully into the Dutch life and to its unspoken sentences…language, adding to it the search to a place to live, sleep…
When you are in it, breathing it, and when the days are short and grey, when evenings turn into long, cold and grey nights – all it brings to an unprepared person like I was.
So that is how this body-sculpture, “The Room”, came to life.
In retrospective when looking and trying to understand my time and my being then, well, this work representing my state, my situation and the’ being’ rather well, far better that I even knew of myself then…
Creating this ‘ROOM’ , I have been so much in ‘the situation…’ so when begun doing the actual work things like form, the choosing of material (aluminum as the main materiel) it went just naturally so dos with other relevant questions, almost all just resolved by itself.

Head (1985-1986)
The Head is the first one in this body-sculptures in movement.
As part of my studies, I was confronted with a new challenging competition project where the HEAD was in the ‘main center of things’.

After quite some time of brainstorming I was wondering what happened when our head moves when gesturing yes ? gesturing No? trying imitating the movements ,imagining freezing the head, then adding these imaginary movements into it, and so for, and here is how this work comes to be realized.

Atlas 1988
The ‘atlas’ come after I was challenged (by a women) to create work which more will be referring to a female body and soul in general…as I see or understand.
It was not created for a particular person however I concentrated on the way I understood what she meant and what was important for me.
At the beginning when this body-sculpture work was done I had very many questions… doubts behind but only later when working with the dancer/mover I fully realized the work and was less dis-satisfy…

The Egg (for Tamar). 1997g
he body-sculpture ‘egg’ – for Tamar was created during the pregnancy of my wife with our first daughter (later to be Tamar).
Many things… plenty wasn’t unknown nor clear, the only what I knew is that most of the hard and painful ‘work’ had to done by Ingrid.
One day we went for a walk in the forest and duns in Bergen (n-h), talking, trying to realize ,visualize our ‘new life’ to comes the very many ‘what how’s and the many why’s, so plenty question appeared along and by the end of the day I knew and said: ‘ok, as god arranged it this way by most of the work done by you Ingrid then the only what I can contribute is a new egg dance…

The Iris
This Iris work is my final project created as my final exam work at the Rietveld academy. This work took me the longest to create and likely the most complex.
I was asked by my teacher and guide the late Onno Boekhoudt to prepare a new performance to come with it.
As it was a time when the unknown was much greater and piled higher than the knowen I was very much struggling in life. Plenty was un-knowen, running from clear to black and often standing there, there were many extremes from very obvious to unobvious things. As one eye sees it is very cold and the other warm.
I was looking for some balance between this two to led me into the creations of this iris, due to the choice of different material was faced with several technical difficulties and plenty restrictions so just naturally the performance and choreography had to adapt and changed according and became much more organically. The originally planned.

Soloin3 (2007-2010)
I was asked to create another ‘Body-sculpture’ work for a specific project “Hey, Noam, can you create another new body related work for a specific project coming up? Oh well I thought …what, where how why…???
So, this…here was the key to my beginning of this project, I simply asked my self  what, where how why…??? And begun to experiment…to work

Triangulos (2005-2007)
This work, result of a small experiment crossing between the da Vinci ‘Vitruvian man’ then adding my own interpretations and imagination in to it, combining it with another series of my work-‘The Insect’ also under the influenced of da Vinci 7 pieces on plaster, drawing and paper developing them pretty much on similar time wanting seeing them how and if they do melting into one another…

Wings (1988)
During my studies at Rietveld academy in a joint project with fashion dept.
Many ladies around, got the feels they like to fly somewhere but couldn’t do it for some reasons so here comes my wings…

Wings (1988)
During my studies at Rietveld academy in a joint project with fashion dept.
Many ladies around, got the feels they like to fly somewhere but couldn’t do it for some reasons so here comes my wings…

Makkets Soloin3

Installations

Between Intimacy and Alienation

‘Between intimacy and alienation’, it is representing in 4 words the balance I’m looking for in all my works.
The initial idea behind this work was to create sort of a performance, not a live one, but a static performance, in a way it is a combination of sculpture and theatre, a performance within the form of an installation.

By its nature, ‘between intimacy and alienation’ is both sculptural and theatrical, but nevertheless it remains static. once started the process I was in need of looking , finding & re-defining to myself…, looking at the development of ideas through the time, mirroring to myself and to the works selves the developing, the connections. they are quite a few good years in between however my ‘red-line’(yes, later, translated into a transparent nylon wire ..), and how it all connects to one another.
Along the way of the process I got the need to re-arrange things, to contextualize …clarify, the work and the process too, the ways from A to Z, the way in which the idea develops, so It means to discover where ‘things are laying‘.
In fact this work is a collection, a collage of thoughts, sketches ,text ,maquettes and video clips from various performances, derived from my body of works I call ‘body-sculpture’s’ , which I began to develop in the mid eighty’s (1985-86 and onwards…).

I started this ‘collection’ once beginning to develop my body-related works, constantly adding new materials which I brought into this process.

This work existing and influenced by the human body, its movements, it physic & mental, and is being presented in the form of dance/movements performances.

When creating the performance I’m relating, enhancing the contact between ‘work’/object & human body and the space in between them as well as to the sound the ‘work’ makes

Cloud

In cloudy times, grayish blueish pinkish cloudy times where we almost all in the cloud only shadows on the planet safe only shadows the cloud, … again same little person …and the cloud.

Sunset

A series of 5 different works developed from late 90’s and onward. It is very often that I am going to the sea, especially to refresh myself and see how different things happen. I let my imagination fly free just to, in a way, start to think from after…from the behind…yes after…from after the horizon, yes what does happen there. It goes very much differently, so it is always feels…smells and looking different.

Figuring-out (2012-2013)

This work was created during a time of contemplation…wandering, searching and looking around. With two children to care for and yes, time was not easy.To the way I am creating? Mostly walking and walking with lots of just absorbing, looking around and imagining situations. This was pretty much how it went and basically what the Figuring-Out is about. Often while wandering I do imagine myself, viewing from different positions.so yes just figuring-out.

Palais du Justice 2012-13 (exhibited at the KCB, Bergen N-H)

Another work that took a long time to create. Circumstance had led me into being busy with …the way things are being decided on another level.
Executed right after or during my creation of my half masks series, I realized this mask needed a home to belong to. Yes, it had to do with some personal conflict with regard to…
I chose a rather chic, semi-industrial environment, a place where even decision makers may sit and reflect?

Masks

35 Portraits

This work I created in the middle of the Corona time, couldn’t really go somewhere do what use to so…had to do something, thoughts of having some wine-couldn’t go out so…made my own grapes. bit of creativities? why not…

Europe at Twilight

based on old work from the 90th I named ‘Europe’ in the size of 20x20cm’ (aluminum and silver) probably one of my last jewelry I ever made. for a long time, I had the need to enlarge, give another dimension and see the effect it may have on the overall idea. (this work is made out of painted wood and size 300×300 cm’). In a way and strangely enough it come just at ‘right moment’ almost exact when England pursued the Brexit idea…

The Citizen (Version II)

Sorts of….my reflecting on the state of our present world in these ‘very modern times’.
I started this work as I simply could not ignore the situation.
Again, at the end of the day, it is too often impacting this small simple person.

The Aquarium: a series of dream installations.

This series of 3 works from 3 different angels, was created between the years 2012-2015.
It is about the way I experience my life, my stay, here in the Netherlands (north-west Holland) after 30 years and a little more.  
It is real (yet sort of like a series of dreams): at times a bit surrealistic, at times real – very real… 

Actually, it is about family, generations after generations, and… the matriarch, always there and has been there ever since. Representative of the other generation, the other time, the other layer, yet holding the ropes in hand, navigating it all so that changes…will not be. 
 
The beautiful aquarium with the fountain in the middle, standing at one of the corners: it is there, a bit off center, yet very central. It is all beautiful, peaceful, everything is in its place. The fish, swimming on one exact line, do not dare cause any social dis-order to this perfect harmony, yes, they all are swimming in a very calm, orderly and obedient way. They do like all other fish do (at least in this part of the world), talking very silently: ‘Oh, since I’m here…ok, yes, now I understand…’
Looking as if they are all very much connected to one another, the lights are soft and beautiful. But the silence – it is sort of stormy/silent-like. 
It is about those things which happen when most household or family members are lying in bed, in the wee-light hours, when you are on your own listening to the fish and to this water fountain, just wondering about the silence… 
Then finishing, wrapping up the day that is just about to end and evaporate, looking at the glass …the glass half-full or half-empty, (well, it is quite some time that it isn’t about the wine…), just wondering about the days to come.

Fifty x Fifty

This project (KCB -early 2000), was born by receiving a piece of canvas this size …50×50, go do with it something.
I took me bit of time and I came with this… as often the homeless the misfortune who doesn’t have even this small canvas.

Decore / Sets

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Ester Opera by Jeff, Hamburg (never realized)

Cinderelo Ballet – Grand Theater de Geneva

Choreography by I.Galili

Work in Series

10 Squares

Ten different starting points, done at a time when I was looking to clarify my way, my path and finding it a very good way to clear my needs by shaping my way, my path.

Insect

11 Panels

A Series of Works (exhibited at the KCB, Bergen N-H) – a state of mind, …walking through…visiting somewhere. Somewhat hallucinatory work.

Carpets and more

Variations on red, white, black

Wandering Between Yellow, Red, Black and Blue

Only a state of mind, referring to a state of mind in various times and seasons, states and along the way… state of mind which isn’t bad to sink into so you can/may come out of it somewhat sharper…bit more cynical but hopefully wiser…happier.

The Book-time

This work has been created in response to a project in Hamburg Germany by a book/art lover.
The request was to make a work that would reflect my response to our changing times.
Especially with regard to books and what comes with it in our now adays society according to
my mind/vision. I took it immediately to my basic book-time traditions that we/ I just loved to
read and close the day with to my two children. So the rest I hope is speaking for itself..

4 season and onee

This series of work took me a bit more the one year to create. As often in my work I am paying more attention to this…. this walking…the flaneurs in our modern society.
But in this work, I refer to this flaneur figure as a falling leaf somewhat. Falling, failing…how can I neglect this huge problem many of us are trying to ignore or neglect. The disastrous climate change. We haven’t tested even the smaller fingers of it (I’m afraid so). So here is what it is.

The Flaneur

The Flaneur series is based on my own collection of experiences during my walks. Some thoughts, some wandering …trying to explore the walk. Less about the decisions to be made, just the walk.

Landscapes

This work has been created when I was just in state of wondering…. plenty questions marks.
Wondering about time, the streaming of time, how was it then…, before, much much early, did human had to deal with same questions??? Refuse learning from the previous… other generations?
So, in a way I took the streaming, translating it to the streaming of time and in my head connected it with the ‘Atlantis’ as reference to then….
I like reflections and what it does with the mind, sending me to all thoughts of illusions and other flights…

This recent work, it is one of those works which must have been born.
As it sat on me for a long time. It is only my response to my own feelings towards the state of our now adays world, for example, climate change, which to my mind focuses on lots of words, press conferences, making noise but very little changes. Wars…respect…personal responsibility…
What about real leadership???

Various Works

Different works the Appier just like this, simply along the way, often as a key for a new series that will emerge.

Combine/Half/learning the hands

Half – An important work for me, Key work.
Created in the beginning of the 90 just after school in a small place in Amsterdam at a time when I felt is the right time taking some decisions
regarding-where to be living my life as a center. Yes…decided physically where but…until these days somewhat cut in to
Half…

Conbine -Work from the 90th originally done during my Rietveld academy times… don’t know why???
It just had to be created.

Learning the hands movement. (wax) – Model for a work never being materialized to a final finished work.

CV/References

My biography,
I was born in kibbutz Ha’zorea (1952) to my father…a Berliner Jewish artist who had to flee / escape in 1932 from nazi Germany, and to my mother, a young lady from Tunisian origin who (just as well) had to flee/escape from Tunisia under occupation by the Italians Mussolini regime few years after. Kibbutz?… an agriculturally oriented, based on socialistic ideology, a communal way of living in the north of Israel.

I was Studying, completing my obligations to my family, and the surroundings. In 1976 my life took a changed, I begun traveling for few years and more, which later turned me adapting to sort of A flaneurs like way of living…. I lived this way and did not really change it entirely until this present day. After studying in NSCAD University from 1983-85, in Nova Scotia, Canada, then continued my study at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam(N-L), and from 1985-89.

Following on, I established myself, living and working in the Netherlands, very near to the North Sea, raising my family, and making a few groups of friends with it. As by nature being sort of flaneur, I take the human being as the center…a center on this planet however as I am fascinated by the human – his basic elementary behavior and all what comes with it. It has led me to find and create my own form of art that I call body-sculpture. I uses/takes the human in the most elementary, existential position and form, putting the human at the center of my creation, emphasizing physicality, mental, emotional movement and space with the sounds which is being created throughout.

I like seeing, emphasizing the essential. The very basic… seeing where it all leads me into, yes, I do love this un-known, at time cherish this aspect of creation. When this creation…new unit of human &sculptural construction is completed, I love working on the synthesis – the relation between the work, the human, and the space. Since 1986 to the present, I have created about 10 different body-sculptural objects (each taking me about a year+++of making), that are mostly directly related because of a very important, significant event in my life, as having my own newborn children, or getting stuck with no place to live. So yes, often my work just happens, not really in full awareness of this, but more as a spontaneous response to things called life.

But, yes, they all are direct, connected to me. And yes, at the end of the day when I am looking over my work as a whole, in total… then I like them to talk, scream? preferably just sing…

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