TEL AVIV.- In “Plecos”, a new solo exhibition of Gilad Ratman (*1975, Haifa; lives and works in Tel Aviv-Yafo) at CCA Tel Aviv-Yafo that spreads across both floors of the Center, the artist presents an ambitious installation encompassing video, sound, programmed doors, and wet clay. The protagonists of Ratman’s project are Pleco fish (short for Plecostomus), also known as cleaner fish because of their ability to seemingly clean the aquarium surfaces. But while we tend to think of Plecos from a human perspective, as providing a service to others, seen from the fish’s perspective they merely do so for nourishment, out of a survival mechanism.

The film presented in the Ground Floor Gallery shows two groups of Plecos, open-mouthed, clinging to a pane of glass. They move in what appears to be gestures of silent speech or breathing. At other times, they appear to be kissing or mating. In fact, this is all an optical illusion: the frontal angle of the camera ‘eliminates’ the partition glass, thereby creating the impression of physical contact between them. But in reality, for each fish, the world transpires on one side of the glass without it being aware at all of what is happening on the other side. These aquatic lovers and their seemingly social behavior are part of a larger system that seeks to draw fundamental insights about the way we perceive the world around us and the assumptions we make about our place in it.

For the first time in his work, Ratman uses 3D animation that allows the camera to ‘penetrate’ through the skin of the fish into its body. Appearing as a cavernous interior, we discover in its depth a crude model of the fish ensemble made of wet clay, clinging to the pane of glass which we are now able to see. The transparent partition has a physical manifestation as well: the viewers see the film through glass doors that open and close according to a predetermined choreography, like vocal cords. The sounds emanating in the space derive from the first known speaking machine, invented by Wolfgang von Kempelen at the end of the 18th century to try and mechanically imitate human speech. As in previous works by Ratman, here too we find ourselves repeatedly trying to trace causal links between the different elements we perceive, only to inevitably run up short.

In the First Floor Gallery, the virtual and mechanical realm is transformed into material presence. Volumes of wet clay refer back, or conversely give birth, to the installation seen below. The unfired clay offers itself up as a primary raw material, on the verge of form. This material, which tends to air dry, requires constant maintenance by the institution to keep it wet – the Sisyphean nature of this task is not dissimilar to the repetitive cleaning motions of the Plecos themselves.

“Gilad Ratman: Plecos” is curated by Tamar Margalit. The project is the first recipient of the Uri Katzenstein Prize for Multidisciplinary Art, awarded with the generous support of the Danziger family and Rivka Saker. The Prize is run by the Center for Digital Art – Holon, with assistance from the Katzenstein family and friends of the artist. The exhibition is supported by the Rywkind Ben Zour Grant for Art, Education and Community, and by Mifal HaPais Council for the Culture and Arts. Additional support has been provided by The Philip and Muriel Berman Foundation.