The work “Totemism Today” is a collage of archival photographs of scientific documentation of archaeoligical artifacts. These were scanned by Hacohen and combined on the computer as a “totem”.
Modern photographic archives are the back up of historical writings using objective finds that are not hierarchial (photographs), whereas the totem in tribe culture has a different function: the imaginary carved images symbolize myths of the group and hold meanings that are religious and supernatural. In “Totemism Today” the digital collage has a different motivation for a collective image creating a united, visual spinal column.
Pigment archival print, painted wood
Archival images by courtesy of the Archaelogical Institute of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem
