Sleeping Valley A performance at the Water Tower, Kiryat Tivon By Adva Drori Saturday, 4.1.03, Friday, 17.1.03, Saturday, 1.2.03 From 11:00 to 14:00 2003 Adva Drori is a performance artist. Her works always include visual elements, and she uses herself as an object in the sense of Body Art. Her works are site-specific, exploring the physical, historical, geographical, and social aspects of the location in which she operates. The water tower, where the performance takes place, is located on the outskirts of the valley. It once served as a security tower for Kiryat Amal, and as a communication and signaling point with the surrounding areas. During the War of Independence, it was used as an observation post for the Air Force and a wireless communication hub with the Ramat David airbase. The performance is rich in symbols of ethos and myth, which Adva deconstructs and reassembles into a multi-sensory event. The tower’s location offers a view from its upper level of the iconic landscape. For Adva, who grew up in the valley, this structure holds a special emotional significance. Drawing from the pleasant childhood memories of growing up in the cradle of a grand vision, with cotton as a central crop, and festive holidays and ceremonies, she extracts details and crafts a painful statement about values, tradition, and Israeli identity. Adva’s work, like this performance, blends contrasts between content and appearance. The use of celebratory symbols highlights the sanctification of the symbols themselves more than what they represent. Any progress, if it exists at all, is a dizzying cycle that consumes itself and burns from within. Despite the heavy message, the performance is full of charm. The hanging figures hold cotton stalks, and the inverted teddy bears and paratroopers invite touch and embrace. The spinning platforms, each rotating in a different direction, and the ascent/descent of the stairs, combined with the flames and food, almost evoke a sense of a theme park. The audience plays a crucial role in the performance, through their observation (even of the landscape using binoculars), interaction, and participation in eating the eggs and toast. Thanks to: Tafron, Ora Bar - Sarid’s sewing workshop, Menephet HaEmek, Yardena David, Oded Drori, Joseph Sprinzak, and Hila Ben-Ari.