Moment of Birth

Solo at Rothschild
a space for solo exhibitions, created by the Edmond de Rothschild Center especially for members of the Edmond de Rothschild Center network. Its purpose is to foster the development of new projects and facilitate the production of existing works by providing curatorial guidance and encouraging group thinking processes.
The current series of exhibitions seeks to address the concepts monologue/dialogue – on their own and the tension between them – in a way that invites a broadening of their meanings, as an observation of two types of discourse whose main purpose is communication of a message, a position, or an opinion.

Monologue/Dialogue
Four solo exhibitions at the Edmond de Rothschild Center, floor -1.
May-November 2024
Participants: Olga Stadniuk, Mor Peled, Tom Maor, Ronel Pines
Curators: Nofar Cohen, Rotem Kaplan, Reut Kremer Segal, Sofia Paks

Fourth Exhibition on Monologue/Dialogue
Ronel Pines | Moment of Birth
Curator: Sofia Paks

For a year, from October 2023 until October 2024, Ronel Pines has been observing her surroundings, capturing magical moments that usually escape our notice. In a continuous intimate journey Ronel reveals, through her camera lens, a rich fabric of documentation, an aesthetic microcosm contained in an instant. Tiny details, random color combinations, the play of light and shadow on familiar surfaces. The slivers of light in her works draw us to look at reality through her eyes and capture the momentary aesthetic in ours. In her work she strives not only to include the visible but also hidden feelings and textures. With a unique visual sensitivity and through a delicate combination of images, sounds and textures, Ronel creates a multisensory experience that offers to look again at the ordinary, discover the hidden layers of meaning and beauty and explore the small and simple moments that make up our lives. In this way she weaves a dialogue between the particular and the general, the temporary and the permanent, the personal and the universal.

The “Solo at Rothschild” space is left a white cube, seemingly pristine, yet a closer look reveals signs of Ronel over the course of this personal and collectively tragic and heartbreaking year. Upon entering the space the entire year unfolds before us, the mapping of the mass of documentation reflecting the determined and Sisyphean nature of her work. Inside the space itself, Ronel’s visual journey is revealed through slits in the walls which form a stable frame, while the content projected through the slits changes and alternates. Weaving a delicate bond between internal and external discourse, she invites viewers to actively participate in the discovery process, to experience the aesthetic moments through her eyes while they simultaneously formulate their own interpretations. The images, which range from abstract to concrete, projected through the slits, create the sense of glimpsing a hidden world and are an integral part of the viewing experience that requires movement in the space. Every change in viewing angle reveals a new facet of the work, inviting even deeper observation. The body becomes an active tool in the discovery process—bending, standing up, and moving between the openings, creating a kind of dance of perception and comprehension. It is a choreography of discovery that echoes the daily movements of our bodies, where each move leads to a new perspective and a deeper understanding of the work.

The title of the exhibition, Moment of Birth, is borrowed from Natan Alterman’s poem “Moon.” Alterman suggests that even a familiar sight has a moment of renewal. Ronel observes the everyday in a new light with an almost primordial reverence. She emphasizes the transience of our surroundings by drawing inspiration from the ideas of everyday aesthetics in a constantly changing world. The exhibition becomes a space of wonderment and of observation that encourages us to sharpen our gaze and notice the tiny details that enrich our lives, even if they are not visible at first glance. Ronel offers an opportunity to reflect on the presence of beauty even in turbulent times.

Ronel Pines, designer, visual creator, B. Des., Shankar (2019); B.A. The Interdisciplinary Program in the Arts, Tel Aviv University (2024)