On June 20th, Howard Griffin Gallery in Los Angeles introduced “Journey Galactiko,” a debut show by Broken Fingaz in the United States. For this show, the Isreali artists created a site-specific installation inside the gallery space, in form of a large 150 cubic meter temple. This type of monolith structure, which represents the show’s general theme, was inspired by several months of traveling and working across India, along with their vision of modern Western society. With this show, the artists pushed their limitations by constructing a large sculpture using only wood and found materials and presenting a new kind of work.
Along with being the centerpiece of the show, the temple reveals an insight into artists’ own private, introspective world. Through their works, created exclusively for this event, the art duo is intertwining spiritual motifs and icons from the Indian religious tradition with the recognizable elements and aesthetics of Western capitalist advertising. Using emotive imagery, repetitive language, bright colors but also technical presentations such as neon signage, rotating billboards or brand packaging, their works can be seen as religious advertising and commercialized spirituality. Showing the thin line between these two worlds, “Journey Galactiko” questions what affects our consciousness and the ways we’re influenced by subversive and obvious messages around us. By juxtaposing the enclosed, claustrophobic space of the structure, against the outside space filled with sounds, colors, lights and slogans, Broken Fingaz are emphasizing these ideas.
Photos courtesy the gallery and photographer Marcus Peel.