signs and symbols

October 8 - November 8, 2021

Opening Online: Friday, October 8, 6:00pm
Closing: Monday, November 8, 6:00pm

signs and symbols is pleased to present What's She Saying?, a video exhibition by Rachel Libeskind as part of the gallery’s series of online-only solo presentations of video works. The artist's most recent video work, What's She Saying? is a collage of footage individually shot by participants who were instructed to record themselves reading a piece of their own writing aloud.

Libeskind writes:

I used to write for others.
Since I was small, I was given journals.
I didn't know what writing for myself would look like,
I always imagined some other reader, embarrassed by my voice.

Perfume makes me sick,
Writing makes me tired
I was always told to keep a journal:
I will regret not having written more. I already do.
My grandfather used to tell me,
Just write one line a day
When you’re old like me you will want to remember what you thought of the world.
What you thought of yourself.
Writing oneself
Is a tedious task
We hate to hear our own voices

Every bit of writing is autobiography

I want to write but I want to close my mouth
Sophocles said that Silence is the cosmos of women

Unspeakable things
Words escape out of a leaky jar

The future must no longer be determined by the past
But it always is

On the verge of saying something.

*Please note that Libeskind's video will be viewable online from Friday, October 8 at 6:00pm until Monday, November 8 at 6:00pm. Following the end of the exhibition, the video will only be accessible via private link and password. We trust that given our current circumstances, everyone will act in good faith and good will, understanding that these are primary artworks by our artists that are collected and which would otherwise be password protected.

rachel libeskind is a multidisciplinary artist whose research-based practice examines the construction of history and the enduring power of images. Working across collage, installation, video and performance, Libeskind appropriates and recontextualizes images in order to disrupt imposed boundaries — between the personal and public, ancient and contemporary, societal and cultural — and reveal unexpected parallels. Libeskind has presented solo exhibitions, installations and performances at Center for Jewish History, New York; Watermill Center, Long Island; Pioneer Works, Brooklyn; Bombay Beach Biennale; and Mana Contemporary, Miami. She has also been included in group exhibitions at institutions such as ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe; Alabama Contemporary Art Center, Mobile; Carpenter Center at Harvard University, Cambridge; and National Media Arts Festival of Lithuania, Vilnius. She has been awarded residencies and fellowships at Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, Kaneohe; The Watermill Center, Long Island; Long Road Projects, Jacksonville; and The Scuola di Grafica, Venice, Italy. She holds a B.A. with honors from Harvard University. Born in Milan and raised in Berlin, Libeskind is now based between New York and Germany.