Thursday, April 17, 2008

Tuvia Yuster and the Golden Calf


It is a scene etched into Jewish historical memory: the people are celebrating – dancing madly around the statue of a golden calf to the hypnotizing cadence of drums. Many are dressed like ancient Israelites: in caftans and long head coverings, colored and bejeweled. They dance and whirl around the statue as the music reaches a frenzy, and a voice thunders from above: “Halt! It is an abomination! Oy vay! You should be ashamed! Boy are you going to get it!!”
This is the imposing figure of Moses, bearded and enraged, righteously indignant, brandishing the two tablets of the Law like weapons, although in this case the tablets are made of styrofoam. The large crowd in the village amphitheater parts, and Moses makes his way down the steep steps in the direction of the calf.
The people fall silent, shocked, chastised. With the appearance of Moses they have suddenly realized the error of their ways. It wasn’t their fault. The organizers of the party convinced them to dance and make merry. Moses, played by one of our village artists, walks silently among the throng, glowering. He approaches the golden statue and raises his staff. The staff comes down. He gives the calf such a “zbang” on its head that it won’t remember if it’s Pesach or Purim.(read more on Ein Hod Site)

In what he does, Tuvia Yuster walks between the local and the universal. In touching the philosophical polarity that characterizes our lives, originality compared to infinity, his works raise questions of identity and belonging. As an artist, he does not completely ascribe himself to formal abstract or figurative sculpture. At the same time, Iuster finds the main inspiration for his work in the Bible. He therefore sees himself as "a sculptor of the holy and the profane".

טוביה יוסטר ועגל הזהב של עין הוד

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