Still from Stealing Beauty, 2007 Single channel video DVD, Courtesy Postmasters Gallery

Born in 1969 in Israel, he received his MFA from Columbia in 2003, and he currently lives and works in Tel Aviv. Best-known for video works of him and his family in odd environments which lie somwhere between fact and fiction, he has also represented Israel in the 2005 Venice Biennale and will have an upcoming solo exhibition at Mass Moca. His work is both profound and lighthearted. During his talk he spoke about two works, “Stealing Beauty” from 2008 and “Second Nature, “2008, made for the Liverpool Biennial which has never been shown in New York before.

Ben-Ner, Still from Stealing Beauty, 2007 Single channel video DVD, Courtesy Postmasters Gallery

He screened seven minutes of “Stealing Beauty,” a video shot without permission in various IKEA stores throughout the world over a period of a year. He joked that the workers at the stores were the real editors of the video because Guy had to stop filming when he and his family were asked to leave. This video, shot with his real wife and children, attempts to take advantage of the “feel at home” idea that stores like IKEA often sell. The idea of private property and how it is connected to the idea of family was at the heart of the work. It is humorous but there are some serious undertones to it. It’s a very entertaining work. Here is a link to a trailer on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8ygeihSPlk

Second Nature, 2008, single channel video DVD

“Second Nature” stemmed from a desire Guy had to work with animals. He hired professional animals and their trainers (the crow has been in Harry Potter movies) to act out the Aesop fable “The Fox and the Crow.” He plays on the notion of training the animals to do banal taska by asking the trainers to stop what they are doing and act out a scene from Samual Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot.” The trainers go through the motions, but cannot act. Then Guy is shown as the director of the work but he only speaks in rhyme–in that sense, he is going through the motions. It is less humorous and more thought provoking.

Guy told the audience he had always known he wanted to make videos but never in a loop and always narratives. I encourage you to check out his work.