Motti Tal
Put off their broidered garments; clothe themselves with trembling
“Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.” Ezekiel 26:16
The millennium marks the transition from the 20th century to the 21st century. The millennials, known as generation Y (I among them), grew up around the computer and the internet, in an age of accelerated technological developments and information exchange.
The transition between the millennia was fraught with mixed feelings: on the one hand mass celebrations of the new millennium, and on the other – fears associated with the change, as exemplified in the anxiety of Y2K bug. At the end of the countdown and the dawn of the new millennium, the worst fears did not come true. Thanks to the internet, generation Y experienced major historical events and disasters in real time, exacerbating the sense of uncertainty.
The work is based on video footage culled from the internet, including video excerpts and documentation of disasters, shifting between personal and collective anxieties that overwhelm us and moments of silence. The soundtrack that accompanies the work consists of familiar sounds, like songs and rustling flames. Documentation of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster is edited into a view of fireworks in the sky, the motif of the clock signifies the never-ending anticipation of things to come that leads to the inability to live in the present.