The Need for Connection

Modern Art is often hard to connect to inspiration. From the multimillion dollar canvases of a single color to more infamous works that cause somewhat regressive public figures to over-react, art can often be lost upon the consumer of the work. Yet in many cases art for the sake of making a person think--even if the person misses the point--is a good thing Jewish art is all too often stale beyond recognition. Stymied by cut glass or needle point ritual items these pieces which pass as art hardly make the consumer think nor do they push the envelope to the point of confusion.  The same "artistic" interpretations of horrendously ugly and tasteless items on display in the country's Jewish museums could easy have been for sale in gift shops in many of our congregations in the late 1960s. But it has a clear connection to its ritual and purpose. However, The Jewish Museum in New York has found artists and pieces that can make you think, push you past your comfort zone and help reinvent the ritual items that are interpreted in the pieces on display in the new exhibition that opened this week.

Billed as the first of its kind since the "phenomenon" of artists' interest in ritual as inspiration in the 1990s, the "Reinventing Ritual" Contemporary Art and Design for Jewish Life" blends these two art problems described above to create an interesting exhibit. However, when a ritual item loses its utility in favor of its artistic reinterpretation, is it still a ritual item?

That was the question Abby and I were dealing with as we walked through the museum last night.  Surrounded by the whos-who of New York Jews (JTS's Arnold Eisen, Blogger Daniel Sieradski, HEEB's Josh Neuman, and a bunch of big wig rabbis) we tried to figure out where the connection to ritual some of the art was allegedly reinvention. One such work of art was supposed to be about the Omar. For this ritual of counting the days between Passover and Shavout, the artists got up in the morning and did an ink and paper drawing of celebrities. TWhile I get it, you do the same thing each day to mark the event, it seems to have no meaning outside of the art. And when you have ritual items as inspiration, there needs to be connection to the ritual for which the item may be used.

Yet this was not the norm in the exhibit. The beautiful art work and inspired ritual items balanced their roles as both art and useable Jewish items to make you think just a bit. My favorite piece was a wedding kiddish cup that exemplifies the art, the utility and the meaning of the ritual. In a Jewish wedding the individuals getting married are brought together in the eyes of God and the people of Israel. Part of that is sharing a glass of wine. Here we see two beautiful piece of silver, held together by two perfect bands to create a cup that can hold wine. Simple symbolism but really beautiful execution. The exhibition makes you think, even if you disagree with the overall point of some of the pieces. Then again, it is art and I might have simply missed the point.