The-Island-was-a-World_catalogue-digital

14 We plunge into a primordial world, where the known rules of reality are not valid. Like the paintings of The Moon is a Mirror , Eliav identifies in the post-human view of the AI model a potential return to a pre-human era of fluid formation, where names, shapes, and rules are not finalized. The work evokes a tension between this primordial state of becoming and its antipode: rules and finalized shapes. Shapes and patterns curb the flow of becoming. At the same time, they allow for stability and security. In this work, the pole of law and pattern is represented, among others, by fossilized birds carved into stone reliefs echoing ancient Mesopotamian art. Beside the art of the Ancient Near East, canonic European art is recurrently implied in The Island was a World . Early and High Renaissance art resonates in many of its images which, at times, also echo 19 th century painting. The echoed artworks represent the guiding rules and patterns of the artists from those