BEN-HUR - The Creation of Art as a Mosaic of Methods
An interview with Israeli artist Daniel Ben-Hur

by Simone Kussatz, Special Guest Writer

It was a typical, dark and rainy Berlin November day when I visited painter, graphic artist and performance specialist Daniel Ben-Hur. His beautiful two-story studio in Berlin-Kreuzberg (Germany) was in a neighborhood that consisted mostly of liberals and Muslim immigrants. The rain had wet the saddle of my bike while I was inside the Turkish grocery store, where I had stopped to ask a saleswoman for directions. I rushed to make it on time to Muskauer Street, where Ben-Hur, dressed in a dark coat and a bright green scarf, had just arrived.

Simone Kussatz: Mr. Ben-Hur, you were born in Jerusalem. What made you decide to come to Berlin?

Daniel Ben-Hur: I came here about 18 years ago. Back then, I didn’t know that I’d be staying in Berlin for that long. My plan was to live here for a year and to study at the “Hochschule der Kuenste” (University of the Arts). I was interested in the “Neue Deutsche Expressionismus” (New German expressionism.)

Q: Do you come from an artistic family?

A: No, not really. When I was 13 years old, my father gave me some art supplies. However, he felt ambivalent about my artistic abilities and about this profession per se. My mother’s sister worked at an art academy. She provided me with colors and material as well. She told me that my father knew how to use tempera. But for some reason he had stopped painting.

Q: You work mostly with letters and numbers. What meaning do letters and numbers have in Jewish tradition, specifically in your work?
A: First of all, the main tool in Jewish religion is the Torah. My father used to be a Torah scribe, and I watched him often when he sat on the floor and wrote Hebrew letters from right to left. The text in the Torah is very complex, with many hidden meanings.

I then came across an ancient mystic and Kabbalah teacher by the name Abulafia. He lived about 700 years ago in the 14th century. He told his students to sit on the floor and to start thinking, however not in words, but letters. It could be one letter, or several, as long as they didn’t build a word. This seemed like meditation to me. He got back to the source of things, because before any word, any thought, or any theory could be established, there were only letters.

This is a completely different discipline than what is seen in the fine arts. Part of Kabbalah teaching is also to work with the “Gematrie” (number system). In other words, each letter can be associated with a number, and this is how a text could be interpreted in its number value. For instance, the Old Testament can be read in different layers. Either the regular way, or the one that goes deeper: through a number system. There is no end to this.

Q: We can often see the Arabic number 8 in your works? What’s the meaning behind that? Is this supposed to be a reference to Arabic culture?

A: No. It’s just called the Arabic eight. When one turns the eight sideways, it becomes a symbol for eternity. I have worked with this number for a long time and with everything that comes with it, whether it is in association with God, or in any other dialogue. This will be a lifetime process for me.

Q: The colors red and blue are used differently in Jewish culture…
A: Yes, red is seen rarely in Jewish art history. We mostly use blue. There are exceptions of course. Like the work of Chaim Soutine, a Jewish artist who lived in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s, who painted animals that were slaughtered.

In Christian paintings, however, it was an honor to be able to use red. Only the rich could buy the red pigment. This made me curious and I wondered, “Why?” My understanding of this, was that the “Laib Jesus” (Loaf of Jesus) is a symbol of his body. Red wine is a symbol for his blood.

Nevertheless, in Jewish tradition, it is absolutely forbidden to drink or eat blood. We say that in blood lies the soul. Therefore, our food needs to be processed in a special way so that is blood free and complies with the laws of Judaism.

I tried to experiment with this conflict between Judaism and Christianity. For example, there is a difference between Judaism and Christianity in regard to one’s relationship to God. In Christianity one has to fully respect and to obey to God’s actions. In Jewish tradition, however, God is not something outside of ourselves. He is in all of us. One is even allowed to get angry at this God.

I like to play around with this in my work. In practical terms, this means I am painting a red Latin letter A with my left hand and a blue Hebrew letter Aleph with my right hand. Suddenly, I have two movements. In Latin writing, the movement is from left to right, whereas in Hebrew it’s in the opposite direction. Then, I paint the eternity sign in purple located in the middle. Hence, two things always build a third: the “Shin.”

Through the use of these different colors and movements, I can express the dualism that is characteristic in my work, whether it is expressed in a dualism such as Judaism and Christianity, the dualism that is the two parts of the brain, the controlled side and the non-controlled side, or the Israeli or German side in me.

Part of my work is also to break hierarchies, such as Christianity above Judaism, mind above body, culture over nature, man over woman. This is expressed through the purple in the eternity sign.

Q: Why did you use filigree wires in some of your works? Does the wire have any symbolic meaning? Is it a reference to the barbed wire in Auschwitz, for example?

A: No. I don’t want that my work be associated with the Holocaust. It has nothing to do with it, at least not on a conscious level. I used filigree wires mostly for aesthetic purposes. If I talk about my work, I refer to them as drawings. The shades created by the filigree wire look like fragile lines in a drawing. Drawings have more character than paintings.

Architects often make sketches. If you create something two or three dimensional it adds depth to and movement to it. My letters are coming out of the wall. Hence, viewers have to move around the letter. Now they don’t have a vision that’s 1: 1, but they can see the letter from the front, the left, and the right.

Q: What importance do lines have in your work?

A: Lines represent play. Play is important. Also, the pleasure in one‘s work, whether through the choice of colors or movement. There is a lot of leeway in using lines. Sometimes you can go three steps in one direction, and sometimes three steps in the opposite direction. The main reason is pleasure and joy.

Q: Another aspect of your work is repetition. Why?

A: In repetition something new can be established. There is no true repetition. In a spiral, for instance, it either goes up or down, as it is in our spiritual development. Epiphany is achieved if one repeats something for several times, and then comes the jump. That’s when something new happens.

Q: Although you’re Jewish, you have made several visits to monasteries. What made you want to go there and how has that influenced your work?

A: Yes, I have spent time in various monasteries, including a Catholic-Zen one in Oberfranken, and another one, which taught Vipassana, an Indian philosophy. I was mainly interested in finding my own identity and my own language in the arts. I wanted to expose myself to new experiences. I had heard and read about these practices, but I had never practiced them. This was the same for psychoanalysis. I knew a lot about it intellectually, but I could never fully understand it until I had undergone one myself.

Q: Can you tell us more about how you applied these practices in your work?

A: Part of my work is to get to the unconscious, uncontrolled self. That’s why I often work with my eyes covered. In psychoanalysis, for example, you walk into each session, you lie down on a couch, and then you start talking about anything that comes to mind. Sometimes something happens between you and your psychoanalyst that is very unexpected, and in exactly that interaction lies the source of your conflict.

The form that’s kept in psychoanalysis is very strict. There is a hierarchy between a lying client, and a sitting analyst. Psychoanalysts usually sit behind the couch, where they‘re invisible to the clients. After 50 minutes, the session ends, even if you are in the middle of a discussion. But each time something happens between you and the analyst, which is not controlled.

In meditation you also keep a form. You get into a certain body position and remain in it, and then you either chant or concentrate on an image for a specific amount of time. I transposed these experiences to my work. Therefore, I also give myself a specific form in which my art is created.

For example, I use any letter from A-Z of the Hebrew or Latin alphabet and try to draw one letter for one page during a specific length of time, while my eyes are covered. And in this form, each time something different and unexpected happens. Hence, the form is the door into the abstract world.

There are no liberties without any form. Contrary to psychoanalysis or meditation, however, I try to bring different practices together, because I believe that if you only use meditation, you become too spiritual, and if you only use psychoanalysis, you become too self-centered. There is too much rigidity for me in this, as there is too much rigidity for me in some religious practices.

I also work with “Atemtherapie,” a therapy based on breathing. I use voice, because there is a direct link between one‘s voice and one‘s breathing. Short breathing indicates a hectic life-style, long breathing, a more balanced one. One can apply these senses consciously. And then there is a link between breathing and movement. In other words, I do not allow myself to get stuck in, or be dictated to by any system, whether it be psychoanalysis, meditation or “Atemtherapie.”

In my work I sometimes change my procedures. Once I have my eyes covered during an action, another time, I choose not to. As I mentioned before, I don’t want to get caught up in any system and I try to stay alert.

Q: Having been in psychoanalysis, do you think that the conflict in the Middle East has influenced you and your work?

A: Of course, one cannot completely withdraw from the happenings in the world and the news shown on television. There is a direct connection between the outer world and one’s soul. I started a dialogue about that as Martin Buber did. He talks a lot about the individual’s relationship to the cosmos. A psychologist would never just treat the symptom of a disease, but everything that’s around it. One needs to have a professional distance to a disease, in order to be able to treat it.

For example, if you just stand 5 inches away from an art work, you just see everything from a 5 inch angle. However, if you stand 2 meters in front of it, then you can see the entire picture. I did not try to represent the conflict between Israel and Palestine directly, yet, if you take a deeper look at my work, you might see my personal dialogue with that conflict, or the conflict between Jews and Christians, or the conflict between Germans and Jews.

I try to heal those conflicts through my work and through my attempt to find inner peace, and I use that as a model for other conflicts. About 18 years ago, I only reacted to what was happening around me, and created works that were a result of this reaction. However, I couldn’t reach my goal. Since then my art has changed a lot.

Today I am trying to find the source of a conflict inside myself. Now, I take the initiative, instead of just reacting. Because everything we react to in the outer world, has something to do within ourselves. One can’t separate these two. In Israeli society there is a general attitude: it’s either one or the other. It’s about life or death. You can see that even in simple things, such as family gatherings. In my family you’ll see all this food on the table, as if there is no tomorrow. It’s a disease. It’s all or nothing. There are no in-between-tones in Israeli culture. I believe though that there is a tremendous possibility to develop something out of these in-between-tones.

Q: When did you decide to work with these in-between-tones?

A: During the Gulf-crisis, I was still at the “Hochschule der Kuenste” (University of the Arts.) Back then, I reacted very strongly, which you could see in my work. Many people who were pro-Israel, liked my work, and also liked installation artist Rebecca Horn. But then I wanted to get some distance from this type of work, and I decided not to produce anything for 2 years. This was my turning point. When the 2 years were up, I started with the work I am doing now. During my break, I read a lot about existentialism and psychoanalysis.

Q: In image 97 in a catalogue “Daniel Ben-Hur 2005,” published by Asperger Gallery, you’ll see the Hebrew alphabet. Was there more behind it, then just paying homage to your father?

A: As I mentioned at the beginning, my father was a Torah scribe. When he turned ill, he couldn’t use his ink and bamboo any longer. Subsequently, I used his material to acquaint myself with his area of expertise. On one level, I allowed myself to do his activity to accept him and find peace with him, but without the expectation that he would accept my work. It was more of a healing process. My relationship to him and his work is similar to the relationship between liberals and the orthodox. The liberals would read about the teachings of the orthodox, but not vice versa. That type of work was a one-time thing. It’s over with.

Q: In one of your works, you painted with your eyes covered, while sitting in a plane. Can you tell us more about this?

A: I did 120 series. In each series, I give myself a task. Once I drew the alphabet letters with a drill in my hands with covered eyes. In the plane series I tried to create images where I could experiment with the vibration caused by my flight. The conditions were the same as before, hence my eyes were covered. Therefore, the flight is completely described by the movement of my hands. I wasn’t interested in any dramatic turbulence, just a regular one. In these kinds of actions, I never know where it’s going, or what the outcome will be.

Q: You’re also a performance artist, and you apply elements of Bauhaus in your work. How?

A: In 2004, I did a project called “Aktion Nr. 4” that was shown in the Juedisches Museum Berlin (the Jewish Museum in Berlin). In this video, one could see an entire alphabet move. The alphabet was moved by moving letters, and the moving letters were moved by moving the bodies of people who positioned themselves into a letter. Now, the idea that people position themselves in form of letters is based on Bauhaus. However, in Bauhaus the bodies stay in the position of a letter like a sculpture, whereas in my work I move the entire body to move the letters. And I also use voice in doing so.

Q: You were working on an idea for a performance project at the Juedische Museum Berlin that has not been materialized yet, why?

A: The main reason is that we couldn’t get the money for it. It’s a project that would take about half of a year to complete. I often use elements of modern dance in my work because it allows one to create something in the moment. Nothing needs to be planned beforehand. In this project I want the participants to use their own movement and get away from any control. Therefore, I don’t want any actors, or dancers, or any other professional performers, because they have difficulty ignoring what they‘ve learned before.

Once, I tried to work with a renowned dancer. However, she just couldn’t be free in her mind. The best people would be the ones who haven’t received any form of training. In this project, I wanted to apply all the methods I am using for my other art work. I want the participants to cover their eyes, and move, or paint, or dance for a certain length of time.

This is because I believe that we always have a tendency to either improve something or make it worse. With our eyes covered, however, this wouldn’t be possible. I want my participants to lose all of their control in order to let them do what they feel like doing. Their other senses will be utilized through this.

Q: Your work has been exhibited in Israel, throughout Germany, as well as in London. Your show “Lines, Shadows, Wire” ended on Monday, November 14, 2005 at Asperger Gallery. Where does it travel next to?

A: I don’t know yet. Next year, I’ll be definitely back at Asperger Gallery, a place Moshe Gershuni had introduced me to.

Q: Are you planning on exhibiting your work eventually in the United States?

A: It’s not certain yet. I’m in negotiation with a gallery in New York City.

Simone Kussatz: Thank you for our conversation.

Daniel Ben-Hur: It was my pleasure.

Asperger Gallery
Sophienstrasse 18
10178 Berlin-Mitte
Germany
Phone: (011) -49 30 28 04 49 04