Collections

Curator Aya Bentur

Aya Bentur is a designer and curator, researching body gestures as an interface in both physical and virtual environments. She is a lecturer at Bezalel Academy Masters Program and co-founder of Fictional Collective. Bentur holds a BFA in Jewelry from Bezalel Academy and an MDes in Social Design from the Design Academy Eindhoven.

The act of translation can bridge and bring worlds closer together, it can familiarize the foreign and unknown, at the same time, it can also emphasize gaps and alienation. For instance, when a certain language lacks the words we would use to express our thoughts, those missing words may reflect cultural differences. The projects in the following collection challenge the literal meaning within a translation. In most instances, the act of translation transforms the tangible representation of an idea, yet in these projects, the meaning is expanded, creating a broader and deeper understanding.

The acts of translation embedded in these projects take into account differences; cultural, linguistic, gender-related, and more. They do so by encompassing differences and gaps, bridging them, or using them to add layers and depth.

Marva Mor in the Botanic Gene creates a comparison between plant and human behavior, she translates physiological human behaviors like blushing into visible natural phenomenons. By doing so she emphasizes natures' humanity and nature within humans. Ben Lev examines the Digital Twin concept. In order to best reflect who we are, should our Digital Twin be an exact replica of us? Perhaps abstraction can actually contain more? The attempt to create similarity can eventually emphasize dissimilarities. In his project Abstract You, he examines whether an abstract translation can hold authenticity that is often lacking. Tom Reznikov in her project Modified Self translates hidden layers into visible data. She reveals the language behind our algorithmic profile and the way our identity is determined in the algorithmic era. By exposing the underlying mechanism she provides us with a language and consequently the ability to express ourselves and regain control. Avi Kaplan also deals with translating the hidden. His prototype, Text +, mediates feelings that remain unseen in digital correspondence, where our interpersonal communication is limited to words and symbols without tonality. Michal Pauzner created a narrative health record that attempts to bridge the gaps created between the electronic health record and the patient journey. The narrative health record creates a space for stories to be seen and heard as a meaningful component, enabling a more accurate anamnesis. She translates the method of storytelling to medical jargon and vise versa, thus creating the potential for deeper understanding.