Not much is mentioned about any trials or hardships that Yael had to pass as a child but it is certainly clear that she comes from a world that has been delved in conflict for centuries. Her childhood in Israel allowed Yael to be aware of the many different languages and codes that humans use to communicate. However, she was particularly interested in how these dialects can separate humans as well. Some of her most recent artworks display the power words. The piece below is titled "White between 'The Green Blouse' and Sneakers, No.1" and is composed of the word "white" in English, Arabic, German, Chinese and several other languages. Yael explains that this piece is actually a recreation of "The Green Blouse" by Pierre Bonnard. By using sneakers as the material for the piece and by recycling the word white Yael combines three elements into one seamless piece. It could be said one of the most important elements of this piece is the sneaker material because it shows how they use their own visual language.
This next piece is one of my favorites because of the way composition and color come in to play. Yael states she drew the inspiration for this piece from Talmudic commentary arguing that "an idea can exist in two contradicting states- be a truth and a parable at the same time." This piece emphasizes this concept though its use of the word white, again in several languages, clumped around the edges of the pallet in bold black forms. This on its own demonstrates that white is more of a concept than a single unifying truth especially because the center of the piece appears more like white when contrasted with the black edges. The style of this piece is beautiful to me because it makes the words look as though they are somewhat alive or frozen in time. Her work truly reinforces Talmudic commentary by demonstrating the multiple ways "white can be interpreted, created and reinvented.
Possibly one of Yael Kanarek's most impressive works is her Traveler's Journal interactive online experience. I say interactive but I do not mean that people log on and interact with one another. In the Traveler's Journal Kanarek creates a backdrop where a traveler has entered a parallel universe called Sunrise/Sunset. She explains that the laws that govern our world may or may not apply to the traveler on his journey through the land. The traveler leaves letters for his lover along the way and as an audience member you have the ability to follow the traveler as he searches for a treasure that is as ambiguous as the rest of the story. This piece is truly bizarre and follows no recognizable patterns as far as stories go. I understand this piece to be almost a reflection of the human/cyberspace relationship. As people interact with the program data is collected by the program relaying the time and place in the real worl where people are interacting with it; Yael then takes this information and plots almost a map of connectivity on the landscape of Sunrise/Sunset. The images below are examples of this cross mapping. In doing this, Yael shows where the two worlds coincide. I understand the journey to be symbolic for the search and endless adventure that the internet has become, after all it is an entirely new frontier. It really is a brilliant piece and though it is ambiguous at times I believe it makes a glorious attempt at describing the cyber/human relationship.
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