“gili-tal-civic-virtues”

 

Gili Tal
Civic Virtues
5 October - 10 November 2018




#Whyareyoutellingmethis

   My mother told me that the word bowdlerised was derived from the actions of Thomas Bowdler, who was famous for rewriting the works of Shakespeare in a way he deemed appropriate for 19th century women and children. In his The Family Shakespeare (1807), he edited out any bad language, references to sex, murder or anything and anyone else he deemed unsuitable for family reading.
   ‘It’s a scary thought isn’t it?’ my mother concluded. ‘That everything you think you know has had most of the content taken out, and all the stories in your head are just designed to protect you from the realities of human nature?’ I answered that I didn’t find it scary, and she said that she knew I didn’t because I was a big brave boy.
   ‘But now you’re all grown up,’ she continued, ‘I thought I should come clean and admit that I bowdlerised some of the stories I told you in accordance with my belief in the free market. I did it because I felt this was the best way to protect you, but now you’re older I worry that these oversimplifications of human behavior have affected you adversely.
   ‘I’m fine,’ I replied, confused as to why she was making such a fuss about nothing. She looked at me, concerned, then asked if I could remember the story of the Trojan Horse, which was my favourite growing up.
   ‘Of course I remember,’ I replied.
   ‘Well, the version I told you is not the version most people know. I bowdlerised the story so much that it wasn’t really the same story anymore.’
   ‘Why are you telling me this? Of course I know that,’ I answered, perplexed.
   ‘I know you know, but let me finish. When I told my Trojan Horse story to children after you, I realised that I should change the title because the version of the story I told was so different from the original one that they could get confused. So I called my version The Aspirational Horse.
   ‘OK.’ I answered, as naturally I didn’t mind what she called it.
   ‘So the Trojan Horse and The Aspirational Horse are in fact different stories.
   ‘Why are you telling me this?’ I asked again. ‘Of course I know the difference between your Trojan Horse and the Trojan Horse.
   ‘And you know all the bits about the Trojans looking in awe at the aspirational horse is not in the version of the Trojan Horse most people know.’
   ‘Yes of course I know that,’ I answered, beginning to lose my temper, but she carried on regardless. ‘And the way the aspirational horse conquered all those hearts and brought the Greeks and the Trojans together. That’s just The Aspirational Horse.’ ‘Mum!’ I snapped in disbelief, ‘I’ve read books since I was a child and I know what happens in the original Trojan Horse story.’
   ‘So you know I changed what happens?’
   ‘Yes! I’m a big boy.’ I enunciated, loud and clear.
   ‘Oh that’s such a relief to hear,’ she replied,‘I don’t know why I was sure you didn’t.’

      — Oliver Corino, 2018




     'The banal images of Gili Tal, stretched onto billboards, scattered across canvases, or printed on rolling blinds, consider the role of digital and urban intervention in our daily experience. Born in Tel Aviv and working in London, Tal taps the neutral architectural elements of Western society, and the human figures that surround them, as the building blocks of workaday life. Benches and public art, handrails and handbags, fountains and those who dance in them are all leveled down into a sort of contemporary civic soup. The structural support of her practice changes freely and draws further attention toward a vital interest in the fatigued dreams of modernist metropolitan myths.'
from Momentary Snaps: Gili Tal by Mitchell Anderson in Mousse Magazine 3 December 2019 (click here to read)



“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Installation View, Gili Tal, Civic Virtues, Cabinet, London, 5 October - 10 November 2018
 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Installation View, Gili Tal, Civic Virtues, Cabinet, London, 5 October - 10 November 2018
 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Installation View, Gili Tal, Civic Virtues, Cabinet, London, 5 October - 10 November 2018
 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Installation View, Gili Tal, Civic Virtues, Cabinet, London, 5 October - 10 November 2018
 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Installation View, Gili Tal, Civic Virtues, Cabinet, London, 5 October - 10 November 2018
 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Installation View, Gili Tal, Civic Virtues, Cabinet, London, 5 October - 10 November 2018
 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Installation View, Gili Tal, Civic Virtues, Cabinet, London, 5 October - 10 November 2018
 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Installation View, Gili Tal, Civic Virtues, Cabinet, London, 5 October - 10 November 2018
 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Installation View, Gili Tal, Civic Virtues, Cabinet, London, 5 October - 10 November 2018
 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Installation View, Gili Tal, Civic Virtues, Cabinet, London, 5 October - 10 November 2018
 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Gili Tal
Prospectus
2018
Digital print and paint on canvas
120 x 85 cm

 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Gili Tal
Eat This
2018
Digital print on roller blind, flourescent under cabinet strip lights
180 x 138 x 12 cm

 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Gili Tal
Save This
2018
Digital print on roller blind, flourescent under cabinet strip lights
180 x 138 x 12 cm

 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Gili Tal
Attractions
2018
Digital print on roller blind, flourescent under cabinet strip lights
180 x 138 x 12 cm

 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Gili Tal
Museums
2018
Digital print on roller blind, flourescent under cabinet strip lights
180 x 138 x 12 cm

 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Gili Tal
Museums
2018
Digital print on roller blind, flourescent under cabinet strip lights
180 x 138 x 12 cm

 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Gili Tal
Chat
2018
Digital print on roller blind, flourescent under cabinet strip lights
180 x 138 x 12 cm

 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Gili Tal
Discover
2018
Digital print on roller blind, flourescent under cabinet strip lights
180 x 138 x 12 cm

 

“gili-tal-civic-virtues”
Gili Tal
Loads of Immersive Art
2018
Digital print on roller blind, flourescent under cabinet strip lights
180 x 138 x 12 cm