CityFactory: Re-Creation

Last February, Itamar received a surprising and exciting phone call from Tel Aviv Museum of Art, inviting us to open a factory in the museum’s largest space. After a brief moment of excitement—and a quick dose of panic—we gathered to imagine what the factory would look like, its purpose, and how we could reinvent both the project and ourselves. Observing the museum space, the daily life in our new reality, and ourselves as an initiative striving to tackle the most important topics, we realized the factory had to be as participatory as possible and reflect the faces of people, especially given the striking transition between the Hostages Square outside and the galleries inside the museum.

Thus, the factory focused on rebuilding from the old and broken on to repair and transformation. It became a space for self-expression for every participant, creating from one’s personal identity within a large, empty, square space that transformed into a lively, human-centered factory of creation.

Over the course of three months, in collaboration with community centers and the Sanitation Department of Tel Aviv Municipality, we collected toys from (almost) every home in Tel Aviv. The toys were sorted, dismantled, turned into raw materials, and placed on the production lines. Every participant entering the factory wore a uniform, received training, and joined the production lines to create their unique sculpture—their own personal, sculptural existence.

Approximately 5,000 personal, beautiful, and unique sculptures were created and displayed collectively on the exhibition shelves, forming a communal showcase. These 5,000 sculptures are set to be displayed again in a sale exhibition, with proceeds returning to the community, as is tradition in every project.

As with every project, many volunteers from CityFactory various communities and the museum joined the effort. This time, students from Katzir School in Holon, Herzliya Gymnasium, Tel Aviv, and Navon High School in Yavne participated, opening a robotics lab that brought sculptures and toys to life.

Factory worker training video | The factory video

Timeline

Credits