CATALOG_TOM PORAT - English-for-web

Porat has drawn inspiration from the German photographers Bernhard and Hilla Becher (1931–2007; 1934–2015), who were pioneers of typological photography. Their work method involved collecting information through photography, sorting, and comparison. They entered their photographed objects into a database and classified them into categories, such as coal mines, barns, water towers and refineries, and their works were regularly exhibited in groups of six, nine, or 15 photographs, according to the type of building or the geographical area. Porat, who graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, expresses his broad foundation in photography studies through the quality and knowledge inherent in his work. Photography-as-evidence and as commemorative testimony is used by the artist as a tool for cognitive research. He studies the conventions according to which the perception of space is built and the boundary between representation and the concrete reality it creates are blurred. Porat delves into the world of virtual reality in an attempt to produce a realistic and tangible product, using artificial intelligence (AI) to add information to reality and to expand it. He creates a merging of images, a stimulus within a stimulus; a new, full, and rich world that utilizes innovative possibilities. His use of AI has assisted him in his exploration and discovery of connections between the visual and substantive values of the OUI campus that expand the limits of imagination. Throughout his artistic exploration, Porat raises questions such as what is the difference between reality and virtual reality? Is this difference constant or variable? How can art change fixed reality into a deceptive and changing reality?  *** The Gatekeeper consists of two parts: a large single-channel projection and a series of ten video works projected on ten screens. The large projection on the vast concrete wall of the gallery simulates a journey between galaxies, outer worlds, and other states of consciousness, merging the physical architecture