Exit / In Exile by Steve Sabella (February 4, 2010) 
(5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
Categories / Abstract Photography / Conceptual Photography / / Click here to open comments section, click again when done to close / 1 Comment
Curator Statement by Elie Domit
Steve Sabella's In Exile is an attempt to reconstruct an identity which he felt deconstructed by the political situation in his former home town, Jerusalem. We sense the loss of the home, a confusion of not really belonging anywhere, of being suspended between cultures, of a bewildering multitude of perspectives that present themselves as possible ways of living. However, Sabella does not hark back to the loss of the self as a whole in a romantic way. Instead, he tries to confront his situation by allowing himself to be an essentially fragmented persona, kept together in a precarious balancing act. It is as if he wants to show us there is not one window to one's soul, there are as many windows as there are people. That is why it doesn't not matter if we do not know which window was his original starting point, they all are there and they are all equal. It is a both an acknowledgement and a reminder that our world is ruled by plurality, as it is not Man but men who dwell on this earth.
Next / Yes, These Are Reminders That Time Is Passing / Previous / To Celebrate My Birthday Back In Cape Town /
Our poll "A photo essay always needs a great written story" closed. 267 people voted, 28% agrees, 72% disagrees. 233 people answered our follow-up question "Are you a photographer?" 82% indicated they are, 18% said no. Initially, negative answers to question #1 were almost 100% as was the pecentage of photographers among respondants. Then, when the level of non-photographers started to rise, the percentage of people indicating good text is always essential started to rise too. This seems to indicate that non-photographers think that adding good text to your photo essays is essential. In my opinion: if you want non-photographers to dig your work, you know what to do...
Steve Sabella’s art has been exploring since the mid 1990’s notions of imagined cities, hyperrealties and the relationship of the subconscious mind with reality. Having realized that Jerusalem, Sabella's city of birth no more exists, he started perceiving the harsh reality of living in 'exile' or in alienation.
After conceiving the project jerusalem in exile, Sabella explores through the use of the human body (the hands artwork) what he now refers to as 'exilic landscapes'.
In an attempt to exit his reality, these landscapes were early signs of Sabella's distorted perception of life as in 2008 through fragmentations of images, he deconstructs his immediate monotonous surroundings and reconstructs them to mirror the State of Mind of living in exile and alienation in exile. He does this by assembling hundreds of window images until a 'new form' or 'impossible reality' is created.
Artist Statement to In Exile The keywords for my work are ‘disorientation’ and ‘dislocation’. The latter should be understood in terms of disorder, disturbance and confusion. Living in a constant state of ‘mental exile,’ I have become more conscious that the state of fragmentation and alienation I have been going through can never turn into a whole or take me back to a fixed point of ‘origin.’
Consequently, the work is showing 'states of mind’. I am assembling my own constructions—creating a new structure or a new ‘impossible reality’ of common shapes and forms that exist in my immediate monotonous surroundings. However, I am not sure whether my ambivalent reconstructions are making the world or my perception of it any simpler."
Steve Sabella (1975) lives and works in London, UK.
Click weblink sabellaphoto.com or browse our archives
Out now! 50pm new issue
Sports Issue Magazine App
Posted in category 651
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by RMTF. RMTF said: RT @Bite_magazine: Post Edited: Day 180 – An Essentially Fragmented Persona http://cli.gs/6gESj [...]