VIDEO ART
Ben-Ner, Guy
Israel (1969 - )
Stealing Beauty
2007
Single-channel video (color, sound); Duration 17:40 minutes
Gift of William and Ruth True
FA 2014.296

The work of Israeli artist Guy Ben-Ner explores how the internal relationships between families are framed and impacted by larger social and economic forces. Ben-Ner’s Stealing Beauty blurs the boundaries between theater, performance, and reality by using a public space as the stage for his video. The artist, his wife, and their two children act out scripted narratives in the idealized showrooms of IKEA stores in Berlin, New York, and Tel Aviv. What at first appears to be a real home turns out to be individual displays that recreate different parts of a home inside these design mega-stores. The format of the piece recalls classic American family sitcoms, but the normalcy of family life is disrupted by price tags and the lack of real services, such as running water, that have been added to the soundtrack in post-production. The narrative is further complicated by the appearance of shoppers, who pass by or unwittingly become extras as they wander into the camera’s view. Throughout the video, Ben-Ner gives lessons to his children on the values of hard work as a way to acquire private property. As the story evolves, the action takes place in different “sets,” becoming a dizzying tour of the vast and varied interior design catalog of the store.

Guy Ben-Ner was born in Ramat Gan, Israel in 1969. He currently lives and works in Tel Aviv and New York. He received his MFA at Columbia University and his BEd at Hamidrasha School of Art at Beit Berl College in Israel. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants. Stealing Beauty was awarded the Preis der Kunst at the Berlin Film Biennale in 2007. Ben-Ner’s works have been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows, including the 2005 Venice Biennale in which he represented Israel. -- Guidebook copy for The Ghost of Architecture, July 13 to September 29, 2013.