In the name of Father

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  Borderline State-Border | 2010 - 2015

“Borderline/State Border” Exhibition, 2012 Text written by Deborah Abergel “Borderline/State Border” exhibition, co-constructed by the Abergel sisters, is a collection of artistic photographs, installations and videos created by Elodie Abergel between 2007 and 2012 in Jerusalem and its surrounding areas. "Borderline" refers to a personality type defined by psychoanalysis as an intermediate organisation between states of neurosis and psychosis. This kind of person suffers from separation anxiety and ‘object loss’. This kind of person oscillates within relationships of dependence (anaclictic) on the one side and aggressive manipulation on the other. Not having been able to develop an adequate internal sense of security within this “borderline” state, this person splits from himself in an effort to defend himself from internal psychological conflicts. These individuals will use denial or other defence mechanisms to cope with their inner conflicts, such as projective identification; projecting one’s thoughts, beliefs or emotions onto another. This results in confusion between the self and others. Additionally, this person has trouble dealing with frustration and may resort to violent acts (acting out) as a way to manage and control their anguish. “State Border” refers to the centrality of Jerusalem in peace negotiations where boundaries between real and expected state borders remain blurred. Questioning the separation of a real yet imaginary territory, at once shared and distinct, this work represents the strong symbolic value imbued by each claimant to the land. The artwork presented in the “Borderline/State Border” exhibition seeks to incite an in-depth reflection of Israeli and Palestinian internal insecurities concerning the current situation, where they have reached an impasse. The artist shows Israeli-Palestinian youth taken hostage by this conflict in “Walled-in, Boxed-in” as well as the powerlessness felt by the international community for which this conflict remains a central pact, “U.N. Pact”. The greater part of the works in this exhibition were created in Jerusalem, a Holy City, three times over, where every stone bears the weighty burden of the past, recalled by the “Monopierristes, pictured in prayer. Jerusalem, a borderline town, is where the artist virtually reconnects people with multiple identities (Taddeout Ze’ut) in “Connexion”. It is a city, disputed since time immemorial, where repetition is embodied by those who have power in the city, shown in the collection of photographs entitled “Arrests”. The artist uses humour to raise awareness in “Signal-ethics”, reclaiming elements in the urban space of Jerusalem to expose the absurdity of the situation. There is trauma in each of these people resulting from the Shoah (Holocaust) for some and the Naqba for others; they are one and all “Dislodged”. The artist tries to draw a parallel between the suffering and trauma of both people, without comparison, through what unites them rather than in what separates them. She denounces in “Home”, the contrast within the Middle-East, where the inner and outer limits often appear clearer to those in the West, who try to reveal its contours. This ambiguity captured by the artist invites the viewer to join her on a hallucinatory journey in “This is God’s Country”, where confused perception evokes the effect of a “Disorganizing Trauma”. These works of art call into question the place of the father, as well as the salience of deism in the very structure of these patrilineal societies who say continually “In the Name of the Father”. The artwork also questions the complexity of sharing this earth, heavily disputed between covetous brothers, symbolised by the olive tree in “Tree of Peace and Discord”. These fertile grounds of Jerusalem, represented by a plaster cast of the artist’s body, and from which spring the “Sein des Saints”, hang the stones of an endless struggle, whose words fall helplessly to the ground. The artist plays with the symbols (colours and motifs) belonging to each in “Hasar-dieux” and “Recovery”, where she decries their fear of losing themselves. Each can find themselves “Alone in the World”, with his fears, his grief and his hope. And finally, facing such complexity, the artist is powerless, despite her dream of peace in “Secular Depression”, she insists on repetition to highlight the perils of the situation. This is also what she censures by the repeated gesture, shared in “Fallafel”. The “Borderline/State Border” exhibition is an act of resistance taking shape in art; it is the victory of Eros over Thanatos in the face of man’s folly.