Deganit Stern Schocken

The Head

Israel, 2009

Necklace

Materials:

stainless steel, gold, silver, polystyrene

zircon

Techniques:

vacuum forming + mixed techniques

Dimension in cm:

10.5 x 8.5

Artist Statement:

(written by Dr. Iris Fishof)

Stern Schocken's works carry a political

message. She uses embossed plastic boards

with colorful, simple images, inscribed in

Arabic, that were acquired in East

Jerusalem. The boards are used for

teaching young children to read. She cuts

out separate images, attaches them to a

stainless steel net base, and then adds on to

the pictures new elements in gold and

zircon. Stern Schocken explains that by

deliberately choosing to use plastic, which

is a cheap material, unfriendly to the

environment, and combining it with

precious metals, she has created a certain

tension. This tension becomes evident in

the use of Chinese-manufactured,

schematically drawn mass-produced

boards, with the elements that are hand

made and “one of a kind”.

When asked why she wanted to use this

teaching device in Arabic, her answer was

"because of the shame and the hope".