When Souls Stick at Comfort Station by Jess Bass & Gabriel Chalfin-Piney
Exhibition Statement: טייקִיָאד —hereness — doikayt —
Here and then exists simultaneously in the present as it is retold, rehearsed, reshaped. Through archiving Jewish folktales, studying incantation bowls and Jewish households from the Aramaic period to now, When Souls Stick collages and interprets Jewish history and mysticism to discuss the human impulse, throughout time, to imbue matter with souls and Purposes. The exhibition, corresponding performances and workshops explore how non-conscious objects come to life through mystical encounters, making bonds through human attachments. In our tale, the Dybbuk (the vengeful ghost), Golem (the savior and destroyer), Ziz (sky and ruler of all birds) and Leviathan (the primordial sea monster) join in a familial affair, connected yet estranged, woven through the sharing of space. Through activated encounters, demons and angels appear. The audience is asked to engage and move with the performers, following the Anti-Zionist diasporic concept of Doikayt, translated from Yiddish as “hereness.”
As curators, organizers and artists, Jess Bass and Gabriel Chalfin-Piney are committed to creating multi-sensory and accessible experiences through interactive installation and performance. Their collaborative work has been exhibited in NY and Chicago, and featured in Hyperallergic, ArtNews and Artnet.
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This was the beginning of Jewish Museum of Chicago programming and the launch of the community-donated Jewish Museum of Chicago Library. All programming was offered at no cost and a total of 472 people visited the exhibition. Jewish Museum of Chicago Library Donations were accepted every Sunday for the length of the exhibition. Jess and Gabriel received a $6000 DCASE grant and used 100% of the funds to pay each of the collaborators in the exhibition, performers, documentors and workshop teachers.
