In the exhibition “Green Noise”, Ronen Zien (b. 1990, Shefa-Amr) exhibits new works that continue his study of mechanisms and signifiers of photography, memory and identity. Questions and statements regarding the local landscape and Druze society are central to his work. 

Green noise is a continuous note or tone found in the middle of the white noise spectrum and containing the entire range of sound frequencies. It simulates the basic sounds of nature, without sounds associated with human activity. Green noise is one of a range of ‘color noises’ – ambient sounds or movements in the immediate environment that can be converted into sound clips or vocal effects; it is referred to as “the background noise of the world.” Despite its description as “noise”, it has actually been linked to improved sleep and focus.

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 a certain environment, yet in these works it takes on an aesthetic, conceptual and symbolic aspect all at once.  It symbolizes the abstraction of background and environment, of change and transformation. 

The duality of the sound – a ceaseless, troublesome buzz, but also a continuous background, the stable base of the world’s existence – lies at the heart of Zien’s works and often spurs the actions that inspire them.  His work process is characterized by attempts to understand, stabilize and refine his surroundings. “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 to 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, investigates a family portrait that carries an intangible, elusive memory that is nonetheless imprinted firmly within the DNA. He scans, enlarges, divides and prints the photograph of a family waving off into the distance – to someone on the other side of the security fence, their family members on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights: “A seemingly normal family photo… depicting an intimate family tradition and a charged historic moment at the same time.” While printing the different sections of the enlarged photograph, the printer malfunctioned. It ran out of ink before completing all the sections but continued printing as the ink slowly ran dry. The emptying ink becomes a productive process in the work, the aesthetic driver that activates the creation mechanism from a place of loss and disappearance.

Grand opening: 12:00, 21 Jan 2023
Exhibition closes: 15 Aug 2023
The exhibition is open Sunday-Thursday and Saturdays between 09:00-15:00