Nothing about Ami Raviv’s object suggests its sources of inspiration. A smooth and polished minimalist rectangle in an almost childish pastel ; an object that takes upvolume and space, yet leaves it open to our eyes. It is an empty space whose approximate dimensions are drawn from depositions given by members of the Falun Gong cult, persecuted for nearly two decades by the Chinese authorities. Raviv deliberately opted for a seductive aesthetic tactic which leaves the horror of what takes place in this small space (and the adjacent rooms) to the viewer’s imagination. We often pass by similar rooms, cells, niches, cellars, maybe even stop to look at buildings and sites in which such cells are contained, admiring the architecture, the gardening, and perhaps wondering: what is this thing over here?
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