Locust Projects is pleased to present Larval Acceleration, the first collaboration between Israeli husband-and-wife duo Rotem Tamir and Omri Zin. Provoked by the repetitive choreography of motors and other kinds of autonomous systems, the artists will power two self-contained, modular factories with their own movements, transforming Locust Projects into a playground for production. 

Rotem Tamir’s factory produces latex, helium-filled balloons in an array of shapes and colors. Housed in a magnetic box that is unfolded and re-folded by Tamir to access different equipment, this factory is in a continual state of transformation throughout the stages of the balloon-making process. Using a series of glass molds in organic shapes, the artist produces latex sleeves which are filled with helium and tied off, creating the illusion of organs, animal bladders, and other biological forms floating around the space. Only capable of holding helium for a maximum of 24 hours, these balloons rise, float, and then slowly descend to the ground at the end of their lifespan, collecting on the gallery floor. 

Omri Zin’s factory manufactures a byproduct as its primary inventory, rendering an industrial sludge from a secret recipe including animal fat. Zin prepares the black grease on a motorized, mobile laboratory that he rides around the space; the unit pumps the mixture over a patch of floor as it rides past, building the sludge over time and progressively inhibiting the maneuvering of the vehicle. The dark muck parallels the often dangerous byproducts and waste materials produced in modern manufacturing practices, where Zin parodies the process in this exercise by creating his mobile factory’s own means of obstruction. 

The artists’ parallel performances are durational, looping over a two-week period during which their accumulated products will fill and layer themselves across the gallery. Participating jointly in conversation, elements from each performance will overlap and intervene with the other as Tamir and Zin dialogue through their specialized tasks. In many ways, Larval Acceleration contends with philosopher Levi R. Bryant’s pan-mechanism, a theory of interactions where the body performs as a component or extension of machines and machinic systems. Every relationship, network or routine to which individuals belong is machine, and every person is a unit of functionality; a cog in the execution of that system’s goals. Within factories or other organizations of labor, the body is regulated to a strict choreography of movements which manipulate apparatus, process materials and assemble products to the end goals of commerce. Here, Tamir and Zin self-regulate their behavior across a series of repetitive tasks, bending their own bodies to adhere to the distinct working conditions at each step of their manufacturing processes.

Larval Acceleration is supported by the Artis Grant Program.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Rotem Tamir (b. 1981, Haifa, Israel) is a sculptor and currently serves as Visiting Assistant Professor of sculpture at Florida State University. Previously, she was Visiting Assistant Professor of sculpture at the University of Florida. Her work has been exhibited at venues including the Harn Museum, Gainesville, FL; Kav 16 Community Gallery for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv; BCA Center, Burlington, VT; and Artists’ House, Tel Aviv, among others. Tamir earned her MFA in Sculpture+Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA; and her BFA from Bezalel Academy for Arts and Design, Jerusalem, Israel. Tamir lives and works in Tallahassee, FL. 

Omri Zin (b. 1979, Haifa, Israel) works in sculpture and recently served as Adjunct Professor in the School of Art and Art History, University of Florida. His work has been exhibited at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA; Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Herzliya, Israel; Gallery Protocol, Gainesville, FL; and Depot Gallery, Richmond, VA, among others. Zin earned his MFA in Sculpture+Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA; and his BFA from Bezalel Academy for Arts and Design, Jerusalem, Israel. He currently lives and works in Tallahassee, FL.