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Political Mutants is a video-installation, drawing inspiration from the comic-book world, while also using a B-movie and sci-fi aesthetic language. A mutant, in comics and sci-fi literature is a human that received a certain power or physical characteristic as a result of a mutation. It is a super power or an eccentric appearance that transforms this person into a sort of super-human. 

 

Meir Tait's new video work depicts a series of mutants, whose faces are comprised of fragmented diverse political leaders, such as: Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu, Putin, Arduan and many more. The super power these politicians obtain is the power given to them by the citizens, and this is how they became "super-humans". The mutants in the video address the audience with a series of re-edited monologues, taken from various comic-book based movies, especially from a specific moment when the antagonist (the villain who fights the hero) explains his motives for world destruction – the world that the heroes are bound to protect. The antagonist's agenda is usually a summary of values that Hollywood (or America) is against. Subsequently, while reviewing the history of these films, it is possible to detect the change in the nature of the villains, in accordance to the nature of the state's enemies at the time, for instance: Russian, Arabs, Chinese and more, alongside the manifestations of their ideologies, such as Socialism, Communism, financial and moral corruption, hyper-Capitalism and failing corporate culture. Through the monologues of the mutants – a mixture of the words spoken by the hero/leader and the antagonist – questions regarding the agendas of each side arise; what is it that the hero/leader is trying to protect? What is this "democracy"? What is the "west"? And cetra.

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Installation view at Beit Uri and Rami Nehoshtan Museum, Israel,(photography by Yotam From).

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The political mutant at the center of the work will try to reach the viewers by connecting to their collective fears. The act of construction and deconstruction of the texts from the movies, sheds a new light on the way political ideologies can find their way to the minds of the viewers, the audience, the citizens, and people. This work is a continuation of Meir Tati's artistic practice, drawing inspiration from current political affairs while referencing pop-culture and the world of sci-fi and comic books; mixing together documentary and fiction, by creating complex installations that ask questions regarding our perception of reality and history.

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Text by: Smadar Keren (Curator at  Beit Uri and Rami Nehoshtan Museum)

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