Ronen Zien: Green Noise
Umm al-Fahm Gallery
January 21-August 15, 2023
In this exhibition, Ronen Zien (b. 1990, Shefa-Amr) showcases new works, in which he continues his study of photographic signs and mechanisms, memory, and identity. Central to his work are questions and positions regarding the local landscape and Druze society.
“Green noise” is one of a range of signals on the ‘noise spectrum’ – ambient sounds or frequencies (such as “white noise,” for example) that can be converted into soundtracks or effects. It is a constant tone that simulates the basic sounds of nature (without those associated with human activity). It has been referred to as "the background noise of the world", and despite its description as "noise", it can actually be used to improve sleep and focus.
The color green is a recurring motif in many of Zien's works. It often appears in the form of a green screen that the artist creates or documents. This filming accessory is more commonly used to project changing backgrounds that simulate certain environments, yet in these works it becomes an aesthetic, conceptual and symbolic element all at once. It denotes the abstraction of background and environment, of change and transformation.
The sound as a ceaseless buzz in the background lies at the heart of Zien's works and often spurs the actions that inspire them. "I try to hear the noise in a quiet way," writes the artist, "so that I have time to observe and understand, to think and internalize." These efforts encounter disruptions, hitches and glitches, and it is within these that the poetry and the aesthetics of the works lie. His "Faded Memory" series, for example, explores a family portrait that carries an intangible, elusive memory that is nonetheless firmly, genetically imprinted. In this work, the gradually emptying ink becomes a productive process, the aesthetic engine that drives the creation mechanism from a place of loss and disappearance.
