Using paper tearing, I have created a visual image of “All of you standing at Sinai”. I decided to use paper tearing to make each person standing because by using this technique no two images are alike. Each has its own unique curves, edges, indentations, shape, color, and size, just as all human beings have unique qualities. But each image also comes from the same material, just as we all come from the same source, and all are a part of the community. The images are faceless, because who they represent will always be changing. Those standing today will not be the same as those standing tomorrow. The faces will always change but the covenant with the people of Israel will remain intact.
Standing alone and together
I love this image. Each is separate, but the whole image is only valid with all of them. This is Judaism, standing and being held responsible alone while finding and being part of the greater community. It of course also screams diversity of the most sacred kind.
Polka dots
Something about the singularity and diversity of this piece reminded me of the Heidelberg Project in Detroit.
The artist, Tyree Guyton, uses polka dots on dilapidated buildings and trees to connote universality. You can read more about him and his theory of polka dots here.
I just love how the scan
I just love how the scan preserves the three-dimensional quality of the torn paper. Though the people are standing close, one-to-another, they never merge into other, the edges are always distinct. This distinctness doesn’t get in the way of the shared experience of standing together, it my even add to it — for in “remembering”, each person’s story will be different and ultimately add to our shared recollection.
torn paper people
Doesn’t Judaism offer us a remarkable invitation to be simultaneously an individual and a member of the collective?