Gil Yefman

The Valley of Wet Bones, used plastic bags and bottles, soil, plants, wire. dimensions variable, 2015

Aomori Contemporary Art Centre, Japan installation photos: Tadasu Yamamoto

Curator: Yuki KONDO

“The plastic disposables we throw away every day often find their way into the ocean. They form massive, swirling islands of trash that drift across the Pacific, deadly to many of the sea life and birds that happen to cross their paths. 

Yefman’s artwork takes its title from the “Valley of Dry Bones,” a well-known passage in the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel.

In it, the prophet Ezekiel sees a vision of a valley filled with dry bones. This symbolises Israel and the spiritual death of the world. 

In contrast, Yefman chooses to use the term “wet bones” in his title. The bones, which symbolise death, are made of used plastic bags. Yet plants sprout verdantly in their gaps as symbols of life. It appears as if Mother Nature breathes new life where God the Father has failed.

The gathering of materials and production of Yefman’s artwork is an ongoing collaborative process within the community. 

Knitting and weaving have long been considered feminine crafts done within the home, but have more recently been applied in occupational therapy practices to aid in healing. Yefman takes the domestic act of knitting “out of the confined home and into the public outdoor space” to view it from a socio-political and humanistic perspective. 

This workshop spins another version of history where interaction between individuals and instruction of tradition and technique weaves a fabric that intertwines people through the process of collaboration to sustain dialogue.

Our society has gone off kilter in its singular pursuit of economic development. As Yefman states, “the bones are…knitted as a poetic and critical act of resistance within a reality on the verge of ecological catastrophe. ”Here, collaboration took place as a socio-ecological project in order to relay and raise awareness and action.”