Sea Level, 2024

Dual exhibiton of Noa Simhayof Shahaf and Yaacov Chefetz, curated by Maruisz Soltysik 
OPCJA Gallery, Krakow

“Sea level” is the determinant of the zero point corresponding to the contact between the
sea and land. In cartography and geology, it is the accepted average of all sea levels taking
into account tides and wave action. Longer cycles of sea level fluctuations such as the
Menton cycle or the Saros cycle are also taken into account.
Undoubtedly, these cycles have a significant impact on life on Earth. Man, although also
dependent on these influences, in the epoch of his own dominance defined by the era of the
Anthropocene - seems to have forgotten these relationships (to nature). “Sea level”
belongs to the so-called orientation metaphor, where what it means above the zero level is
synonymous with happiness, or a better future.

The exhibition of two artists with a significant generational difference is an attempt to
dialogue with regard to their own condition, but also with regard to their dependence on
culture and the place that temporarily unites (for the benefit of the exhibition) the said
relationships. And that place is Cracow's Kazimierz. It is no coincidence that we invited two
artists from Israel to participate in this exhibition, hoping to express their own voice in a
discussion about a world torn by adversity, pseudo-unanimity, so-called national pride –
that is, all the abstractions and dogmas we have been fed since childhood in the name of the
well-being of a particular social group. Does this adaptation mean both psychological and
economic well-being for the individual himself? The degree of compliance of the individual
is a measure of democracy and freedom in a given society. So far – in a democratic world –
it is the majority that decides the shape in which a given social group follows.

Minorities with a different opinion can be heard or drowned out. It seems that currently
our planet is dominated by the latter option. Hence the importance and need for
individual, personal, sincere voices without any national or dogmatic inflictions. We hope
that this exhibition will be one of those voices that can influence the perception and change
the stereotype of thinking about another person through the prism of an entire group. We
believe that individuals are the only significant factor that can influence, change and move
the stagnant state, where level zero only means persisting in the illusion of security.








The Fright II
Technique: Airbrush on bamboo








Number 16
Technique: Video; 11:20 min















Number 16 uses mechanisms of puppetry alongside fragments of testimonial texts and actions by soldiers to explore the horror and violence of wartime and its aftermath.
The protagonist is a puppet M16 rifle performing in different environments: a theater, a 3D pillbox, and a Polish soldier’s territory. In this space, the humanized rifle shares a voice with his operator. A trauma-driven hybrid is created: an unarmed man and a weapon.
“It is a thrilling vision, but it is an illusion that the puppet is real. Just as it is an illusion that robotic weapons and deadly algorithms are autonomous,” writes Cathrine Taylor in her 2017 book “You, Me, and the Violence.” Thus, she captures this idea of our new-old extensions, reaching out further and further away from the body, to an almost autonomous act of killing.

The text in the movie was composed using sentences from the archive of
Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence.
The 3D model of the pillbox was created by Shabtai Pinchevsky.
The real Rehavia Pillbox was built by the British Mandate over Palestine during the Arab revolts of 1936-1939. This Pillbox is closed to the public, and was neglected approximately for the last 70 years.