Shahar Koshet: The Hearts Machine, 2023. Kinetic sculpture, pen, paper, and scissors
Shahar Koshet's Hearts Machine performs a deceptively simple action: it traces a heart in pen on paper. The action unfolds slowly and gradually, taking a full minute to complete. The slow movement delays the revelation of the drawn object, as well as the very act of drawing, turning it into a measured, ceremonial, and predictable gesture. In daily life, we are accustomed to sending heart emojis with a single tap of the finger, whereas here, its patient creation requires a full minute.
The work, displayed at the entrance to the exhibition Something to Hold On To, frames the encounter with the archival materials on display: letters, postcards, drawings, and messages exchanged between artists over decades. These materials bear the traces of time, touch, and waiting. Handwriting, folded paper, and postmarks testify to relationships that were built gradually, with thought and dedication.
The Hearts Machine serves as a kind of prelude, an implicit introduction to the subsequent encounter with the physical archival materials on the gallery's first floor. Unlike the paper slips that the machine discharges in a monotonous, repetitive action, the items in the exhibition differ from one another in the types of emotion, sustained connection, and human interaction they reflect. These rare materials bear witness to modes of communication that sometimes seem to have vanished from the world, as well as to the personal thought, time, and attention that we devote to the people in our lives. Placing the machine at the entrance to the exhibition may prompt reflection on the relationships between depth and shallowness, between the enduring and the immediate, as well as on the ways we express connection today, and the gestures that may have been lost along the way.
Shahar Koshet (b. 1991) is a multidisciplinary artist who combines visual art, design, and mechanics in his work. His kinetic works examine everyday emotions and gestures, deconstructing them and opening up fresh perspectives on them. His works have been featured at Jerusalem Design Week, at ZUMU – Museum on the Move, and at various other venues. The Hearts Machine was first exhibited at Jerusalem Design Week 2023.
