Sigalit Landau, an Israeli artist, holds the Dead Sea in high regard. She could see the northern banks of the briny waters from her childhood home on a hill in Jerusalem, and her family used to go there on weekends. Its influence now pervades her creative work as both a backdrop and a material—as literal as well as symbolic of the surreal and spiritual realms. She explains, “It’s like meeting with a different time system, a different logic, a different planet.”
Her most recent project, an eight-part photo series titled Salt Bride, is a captivating collaboration with the mysticism found in the chemistry of the cherished lake. In 2014, Landau submerged a black gown in its waters and returned several times over the course of three months to photograph the salinity-induced changes, as glistening crystals gradually conquered the dark fabric. Despite its earthly origins, the dress soon appeared “like snow, like sugar, like death’s embrace” to Landau, poetic language to describe an effect that manifests as delicately magical.
The Dybbuk, a 1916 play by S. Ansky, in which a young Hasidic woman becomes possessed by the spirit of a deceased lover, despite being engaged to be married into a wealthy family, inspired the concept. The story is full of romance and sorcery, which Landau attempted to replicate. The original Salt Bride gown is a replica of the one worn in the dramatic production in the 1920s, with the salt symbolizing the supernatural force that transforms the black fabric into a white wedding gown. The photographic process is also symbolic: just as the garment had to be immersed to undergo its transformation, each printed image had to be developed by liquid emulsion.
The photographs are on display at London’s Marlborough Contemporary until September 3, 2016, but you can see a selection (and see how the dress was made) below.
Salt Crystal Bride Gown IV, Sigalit Landau in collaboration with Yotam From, 2014, Color Print, 163 x 109 cm, Courtesy the artist and Marlborough Contemporary, London. Sigalit Landau / Sigalit Landau / Sigalit Landau / Sigal
Salt Crystal Bride Gown I, Sigalit Landau in collaboration with Yotam From, 2014, Color Print, 163 x 109 cm, Courtesy the artist and Marlborough Contemporary, London. Sigalit Landau / Sigalit Landau / Sigalit Landau / Sigal
Salt Crystal Bride Gown II, Sigalit Landau in collaboration with Yotam From, 2014, Color Print, 163 x 109 cm, Courtesy the artist and Marlborough Contemporary, London. Sigalit Landau / Sigalit Landau / Sigalit Landau / Sigal
Salt Crystal Bride Gown III, Sigalit Landau in collaboration with Yotam From, 2014, Color Print, 163 x 109 cm, Courtesy the artist and Marlborough Contemporary, London. Sigalit Landau / Sigalit Landau / Sigalit Landau / Sigal
Salt Crystal Bride Gown VI, Sigalit Landau in collaboration with Yotam From, 2014, Color Print, 163 x 109 cm, Courtesy the artist and Marlborough Contemporary, London. Sigalit Landau / Sigalit Landau / Sigalit Landau / Sigal
Salt Crystal Bride Gown VII, Sigalit Landau in collaboration with Yotam From, 2014, Color Print, 163 x 109 cm, Courtesy the artist and Marlborough Contemporary, London. Sigalit Landau / Sigalit Landau / Sigalit Landau / Sigal
Salt Crystal Bride Gown VIII, Sigalit Landau in collaboration with Yotam From, 2014, Color Print, 163 x 109 cm, Courtesy the artist and Marlborough Contemporary, London. Sigalit Landau / Sigalit Landau / Sigalit Landau / Sigal
Sigalit Landau in collaboration with Yotam From, Salt Bride, Exhibition view at Marlborough Contemporary, August 2016. Courtesy of Marlborough Contemporary.
Sigalit Landau: Website
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via [Lost At E Minor, The New York Times Style Magazine]
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