Yael Bartana

Author of imaginary utopias, journalist, politician, and jurist, Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) became during the 20thcentury the most admired figure in the history of Zionism, his portrait adorning the wall of every government office. For many decades, his figure was the embodiment of the New Jew, whose political vision created the Zionist movement ex nihilo, thereby giving birth to the future State of Israel. Similarly, his dictum If you will it, it is not a legendis probably the most frequently quoted sentence in Israel’s history. In recent years, I find myself for the first time in front of the camera, explicitly on my creative role Dressed in different familiar costumes – SS officer with an IDF woman soldier’s beret holding a camera, a combat soldier or Jewish settler – I metamorphose into other identities while playing on clichés and archetypes and creating a sort of mutation, a poetic juxtaposition of diverse cultures, of past and present. Over the last decade I have been in dialogue with Herzl, creating works inspired by him, and now I feel ready to impersonate him. Having reached the age of 45, my wrinkles and countenance enable me to be a Herzl. I have stuck a Herzl beard (its nickname in the Tel Aviv wig shop where I rented it) to my cheeks – long a go a hipster trend. A little makeup, my brushed hair, a white shirt and a tux, hands solemnly clasped, the visionary gaze – all these perfected the look. The transgender aspect of this photo series is metaphoric of the Herzlian move fiction to fact and from utopian heaven to the desert of the real.