Yael Bartana
Light To The Nations, 2022-2024
In an act of salvation, the generation ship Light To The Nations carries humans toward new galaxies and planets. Named after a passage in the Book of Isaiah calling for leadership, the generation ship serves humanity in the face of the man-made environmental and political destruction of Planet Earth. The dimensions of the ship allow for controlled population growth, ensuring the survival of future generations. This grand, open-ended journey will continue for eons, encapsulating utopian and dystopian elements in equal measures.
The ship’s creator, Yael Bartana, works within the framework of Jewish mysticism, the Kabbalah. She superimposes the Sephirot diagram, the main image of Kabbalah, on the spaceship structure. The ten Sephirot transform into the ship’s spheres, designed as clusters for various functions including ship headquarters, space research, engineering, medical center, learning centers, agriculture, heritage, public sphere, living quarters, and recycling. The Sephirot contain all facets of God, symbolizing the idea of God as Ain Sof—an eternity that equals the endless outer space of the generation ship’s journey.
Overlaying imagined technologies with mystical doctrine, Bartana utilizes the ship as a vehicle of redemption, analogous to the Merkava, the Kabbalistic carriage that brings the mystic close to the throne of God. The spaceship’s journey toward a utopian ideal relates to the core messianic promise of a better future and to a further Kabbalistic concept: that of Tikkun Olam, the mending of the world. Without humans present to destroy it, Earth can recover, and without the restrictions of the land, new forms of societies can be designed on the ship.
While Light To The Nations is based on Jewish traditions, the grand endeavor transcends religious, ethnic, national, state, and tribal boundaries. It offers a future to all humanity while acknowledging a certain hubris inherent in its biblical reference. The spaceship navigates beyond traditional notions of space, land, and human connection to the Earth, defying the gravitational pull and the human quest for belonging. It serves as a symbol of redemption and a physical embodiment of new societal structures, redefining humanity’s relationship with its terrestrial and territorial origins. As a beacon of hope and innovation, the generation ship operates as a blueprint for the potential construction of further spaceships, inviting humanity to embark on collective journeys while Earth is healing.
Light To The Nations – Generation Ship
3D model
Life in the Generation Ship
3D rendering for dome projection, 21 min.
The Generation Ship Topography
Chalk Drawings
Doreet LeVitte Harten, Interview
Single channel video, 11.30 min
Farewell
Single channel video and sound installation, 15.20 min
Farewell portrays a ceremony preceding the departure of the generation ship Light To The Nations, destined for distant galaxies. With a journey transcending the boundaries of time and space about to begin, the ceremony is designed to observe this separation from Earth.
The dancers in Farewell evoke a sense of longing and anticipation as their ethereal movements navigate the liminal space between our world and the unknown. Dressed as sylphs, they allude to the spirit of Romanticism and its explorations of human transformation and the supernatural.
Bartana also draws from the Labanotation, a system developed by choreographer Rudolf von Laban in the early twentieth century. Laban’s style of expressionistic dance combined collective and ritualistic movement in a way that echoes Bartana’s own engagement with social themes.
As the video unfolds, Bartana’s lens transports viewers beyond the confines of Earth to the vast expanse of space, where the generation ship, Light To The Nations, floats in the cosmic void. The ship emerges as a messianic vessel, a promise of redemption, and the dancers mirror the kinetic movement of the ship as well as the human endeavor behind it.
Towards the ceremony’s climax, the dancers don animal masks—a horse, a donkey, and a ram—evoking apocalyptic imagery and connecting to the Judeo-Christian messianic narrative woven throughout Bartana’s work. Farewell’s pre-enactment of an ecstatic dance becomes a visceral exploration of looming catastrophe and hope.
The forest setting reflects Light To The Nations’ imperative to grant nature a chance for rejuvenation. The ceremony marks humanity’s parting from Earth and its journey toward salvation, underscoring the interconnectedness of utopia and catastrophe. Farewell envisions a departure toward realities yet unknown to humankind.
Team
Sound Design and Music: Daniel Meir
Lighting Design: Matthias Singer
Exhibition Design Concept: Oren Sagiv
Technical Coordination: Richard Gabriel Gersch
Exhibition Producer: Adi Nachman
Project Advisor: Shelley Harten
Light to the Nations – Generation Ship, 2024
3D model
Generation Ship Architect: Assaf Kimmel
Fabrication: Saygel, Schreiber & Gioberti
Farewell, 2024
Single channel video, 15.20 minutes
Director: Yael Bartana
Director of Photography: Simon Veroneg
Choreography: Mor Bashan
Assistant Director: Livnat Sela
Dancers: Alexander Abdukarimov, Ksenia Ovsyannik, Oleksandr Shpak, Federico Spallitta, Shade Theret, Maja Zimmerlin
Costume: Marie von Federlin
Styling: Bert Kietzerow
Editing: Daphna Keenan, Yael Bartana
Sound Design: Daniel Meir
Color Grading: Simon Veroneg
Animation Production: Achtung4k Studio
Make Up Assistant: Guerdy Casimir
First Camera Assistant: Matthias Börner
Second Camera Assistant: Sky Müller
B Camera Operator: Hannes Engler
Gaffer: Tarek Shayne Tabet
Electrician: Tim Bornhöft
LED Drone Company: upup.berlin
LED Drone Pilot: Maximilian Raschke
LED Drone Operator: Ferenc Bodor
LED Drone Technician: Sebastian Simon Driver: Karl Behrendt
Producer: Richard Gabriel Gersch
Junior Producer: Carlotta Cornehl
The Generation Ship Topography, 2024
Chalk Drawings: Guy Saggee – Shual Studio
Farewell posters, 2024
Posters Graphic Design: Avi Bohbot and Gila Kaplan
Posters Printing: Grafiche Leone
Doreet LeVitte-Harten, Interview, 2024
Single channel video, 11.30 minutes
Director: Yael Bartana Director of Photography: Simon Veroneg
Sound Recording: Sky Müller
Editing: Daphna Keenan, Yael Bartana
Animation Production: Achtung4k Studio
Translation and Subtitles: Noa Shuval
Monolith Design: Assaf Kimmel
Monolith Fabrication: Falegnameria Calzavara
Life In The Generation Ship, 2024
3D rendering dome projection, 21 minutes Spheres Design: High Road Stories, Assaf Kimmel
Seating Area Design: Assaf Kimmel
Furniture Production: Mingardo
Technical Partner: Eidotech GmbH, Berlin
Bartana Studio
Gilad BenDavid, Richard Gabriel Gersch, Adi Nachman, Saskia Wendland