I'll be posting 10 Questions with... a number of artists who are taking part in the Aim, Destroy, Transform: Play for Change Toy Show , presented by Medialia Gallery & The Ethyr and taking place November 4-25 2017 in NYC.
Artist Name: Asaf Harari
Proper Title of your toy(s): Zion's Action FIgures
Your toy/submission: 4pack - 4 Israeli statesmen - Golda Meir, Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Yitzhak Rabin, and David Ben-Gurion
Facebook: Piece of History
Instagram: pisathistorya
Website: www.piece-of-history.com
1.Where are you originally from?
Israel
2.Who is your favorite artist (any artist, any medium)?
Jean Arp
3.What was your favorite toy line as a child?
Ninja Turtles
4.What's your most prized collectible?
I don't collect
5.What was the last film you watched?
The Arrival
6.Do you unbox and display or keep MIB (mint in box)?
I don't collect
7.What was the last book you read?
To long ago to remember...
8.Star Trek or Star Wars?
Neither
9.What motto/creed do you try to live by?
Expect nothing and appreciate everything
10. What was the inspiration behind the piece that you produced for the Aim, Destroy, Transform: Play for Change toy show?
Although statesmen figurines are not something new, the figures which I've created are the first statesmen figurines in Israel, part of the Middle East, probably one of the most deadly conflict zone in the world.
This dissonance between the pure purpose of the objects (toys) and the the narrative they represent (the old and ongoing fight for the state of Israel) makes you wonder about questions of identity, nationalism and the modern merchandising.
