System, 2016-2018.
A function draws rectangles in different sizes with different offsets on a canvas. The rectangles are used to cut into Israeli history textbooks in order to identify patterns in settler colonial pedagogy. All textbooks contain a single image from 1948, of Al Nakba, the ongoing Palestinian catastrophe. Through cutting into the textbooks, the image is made visible to provide opportunities for self study.
| Title | Image | Image Description |
|---|---|---|
| Schematic of Overlapping Rectangles | Computer generated vector image of overlapping rectangles: large tall rectangles rendered in red outlines aligned based on their top left corners, and smaller wide rectangles of varying sizes rendered in blue overlapping one another across it. | |
| Time Travels: Building a State in the Middle East | Photograph of a worn Israeli history textbook against a white background.A rectangular cut in the bottom right area of the cover to reveal a photograph of displaced Palestinians walking with their arms raised during the 1948 Nakba. The Hebrew title reads in red and white, Time Travels: Building a State in the Middle East. The majority of the cover is a realistic sepia drawing of a street with cars and people walking. The bottom of the cover is blue. | |
| The Nationalism: Building a State in the Middle East | Photograph of a mostly white Israeli history textbook against a white background. The Hebrew title reads in dark purple, The Nationalism, and then, Building a State in the Middle East. Centered on the cover is the photograph of the raising of the ink flag around the time of establishment of the state of Israel. A rectangle is cut into a part of the image and reveals a photograph from deeper in the book of the 1948 Palestinian Nakba: people walking on a dirt road past a broken car carrying belongings. | |
| Journey Topics the Century | Photograph of an Israeli history textbook against a white background. A rectangular cut at top left edge of the book reveals a photograph from inside the book of the 1948 Palestinian Nakba: people walking on a dirt road carrying belongings, with a broken down car on the side of the road. The cut leaves parts of the Hebrew title legible: Journey in gray, and then, Topics, the century. The cover features a full bleed sepia photograph of a dense crowd in celebration. The bottom of the cover is blue. | |
| The Age of Terror and Hope, 1870–1970 | Photograph of a used Israeli history textbook against a white background. Hebrew title reads, The Age of Terror and Hope, 1870–1970. Below it a yellow monochrome version of Dalí's Persistence of Memory. Cut into the bottom of it and into the rest of the background is a rectangle revealing a photograph from deeper in the book of the 1948 Palestinian Nakba, people walking carrying some of their belongings. The rest of the cover is a solid blue with lines of small Hebrew text. | |
| Travel to the Past, the liberty | Photograph of an Israeli history textbook against a white background. The Hebrew title in red reads, Journey to the Past. Obscuring the subheading and the collage below it is a rectangular cut that reveals a photograph of the 1948 Palestinian Nakba from deep in the book: people walking on a dirt road next to a broken down car, carrying belongings. The collage depicts well known world leaders, historical events, and popular figures. A red circle with an image of a coin contains text about | |
| The World and the Jews in Recent Generations, Part B,1: 1920–1970 | Photograph of an Israeli history textbook on a white background. The cover is a collage of mid 20th century photographs of war, liberation, and flag raising. A small rectangular cut in the top left area of the cover reveals a photograph from the 1948 Palestinian Nakba. The Hebrew title reads in orange and then blue, The World and the Jews in Recent Generations, Part B,1: 1920–1970. | |
| The Nationalism in Israel and The People: Building a State in the Middle East | Photograph of the back of an Israeli history textbook against a white background. A block of Hebrew text is set against a tan color between blue rules. A rectangle has been cut down through the cover to reveal a photograph of the 1948 Palestinian Nakba from deeper in the book showing a tent encampment. |
Or Zubalsky makes paintings, drawings, scores for viewing, and systems: encounters with silence and hope. They are a 2025 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, and were previously a resident at Pioneer Works (2023), NEW INC incubator member (2023), and C/Change R&D Lab fellow (2023).
I like getting messages at or@myawesomestudio.com.
| Title |
|---|
| * Recent Paintings |
| Select Works on Paper |
| Select Works on Panel |
| * Unseen |
| Decentered |
| * When a Reference to a Name is Lost |
| * Merge Conflicts |
| Request Deferred |
| * Time Travels: Building a State in the Middle East |
| Meeting Table |