Creative Corrections Eco-Cultural Servant
Shai Zakai is an Eco artist and activist. For over 15 years she has collected examples of flora (be it leaves seeds, and grasses) from all over the world, where deforestation, plant removal, destruction by agriculture or urban development have taken place. She has also made it a daily ritual to take photographs of woodland areas local to her, using unusual angles and moment specific UN-tampered with compositions as a running dialogue. Together she has created a library consisting of boxes with differing pictures and plant life inside. This library is a huge memory log which co insides with a particular place or event, provoking emotions and events which have taken place. For example; a bomb was dropped in Israel, and the authorities said "nothing happened" meaning there were no human fatalities. But the damage caused to the local ecology was devastating, plants, forests, birds, animals and insects were all destroyed. Shai took it upon herself to document the disastrous not to be forgotten and to bring to the attention of the audience that when "nothing happened," something had very much definitely happened!
"Forest tunes"
"Cement Dress" a piece derived from an Israeli song "we will cloth you in cement" a song talking about the urban development of Israel. The piece was also worked and edited as a photograph where nature was put back into the images.
Shai Zakai is an Eco artist and activist. For over 15 years she has collected examples of flora (be it leaves seeds, and grasses) from all over the world, where deforestation, plant removal, destruction by agriculture or urban development have taken place. She has also made it a daily ritual to take photographs of woodland areas local to her, using unusual angles and moment specific UN-tampered with compositions as a running dialogue. Together she has created a library consisting of boxes with differing pictures and plant life inside. This library is a huge memory log which co insides with a particular place or event, provoking emotions and events which have taken place. For example; a bomb was dropped in Israel, and the authorities said "nothing happened" meaning there were no human fatalities. But the damage caused to the local ecology was devastating, plants, forests, birds, animals and insects were all destroyed. Shai took it upon herself to document the disastrous not to be forgotten and to bring to the attention of the audience that when "nothing happened," something had very much definitely happened! "Forest tunes"
Shai also works with the belief of art working across disciplines, bringing voids together. She works with other artists, scientists, politicians, and the public, including her gardener who she promoted the use of natural methods of land clearance rather than the use of pesticides, as soil has a 7 year memory and would cause long term detrimental effects
"Cement Dress" a piece derived from an Israeli song "we will cloth you in cement" a song talking about the urban development of Israel. The piece was also worked and edited as a photograph where nature was put back into the images.
Concrete Creek 1999-2002Concrete creek was an on going piece. The developers of Beit Shemesh had been dumping waste concrete at the end of the day into the creek rather than disposing of it properly. It was an enormous amount which led to the stream setting solid! Shai first documented the creek with pictures which were first used as evidence against the building firm as evidence in court and then to fuel art work. Her first notion was to wade in and fix the problem manually, but after deliberation decided to aid nature in its own repair of the area, humans had already caused enough problems. There were many pieces of art that went along side the clean up including performance, sculpture and photographic. This addresses her idea of crossing disciplines and bringing the work and disaster to public attention.
Concrete flags put in place as obstacles for work vehicles
"The Last Super Table" a permanent reminder of what happened at concrete creek
Shai Zakai has her Forest Tunes exhibition on at Exter library CCANW until 22nd november 09
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