On watching - Avshalom Halutz in Haaretz:

‘Lavie's 60-minute video installation "Observation," which is currently on show at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, features 10 former women spotters who talk about their unique service in the Israeli army watching Gaza. Sat against a black background and facing the camera, their eyes – as requested by Lavie – are constantly looking straight into the lens.’

(…)

‘One of them talks about a horse that the army shot in the neck that remained lying there for a prolonged period of time, a fixture inside their lenses; another talks about the meaning of decision-making that costs lives on a daily basis. The first speaker dares to acknowledge what it means to watch other people 24/7 and the immense ethical toll the soldiers have to endure. You cannot say you feel conflicted, she tells us, you must view Gazans only through the lens of enemies.’

(…)

‘Apparently you can watch another society day and night without truly seeing it, and without being able to even view your own reflection.
The most important images remain only in words: we don't get to watch the surveillance the spotters monitored, nor the horrors of October 7 and the extreme violence of the army ever since.’

(…)

‘Somewhat like works of Dutch artist Rineke Dijkstra, Lavie shows us portraits of young adults who despite the very specific war-related subject matter, end up telling us more about the human condition at a fragile age than about misogyny, violence and politics.’

Read the article here.

You can watch a society day and night without truly seeing it.

The very specific war and the not so specific human condition, they merge seamlessly into each other.