Ilana Halperin

Texts explore the multifaceted conceptual practice of the artist Ilana Halperin.

Ilana Halperin (b.1973) is an artist who shares her birthday with an Icelandic volcano. Working through the aesthetics of geology since the late 1990s, her multifaceted, conceptual practice unearths the intimate poetics of rocks, minerals, and body stones. Halperin's fieldwork has led her from erupting volcanoes in Hawaii to petrifying caves in France and geothermal springs in Japan. Felt Events surveys the last two decades of Halperin's output (1999-2020), representing a mid-career moment of reflection.

Felt Events includes critical and experimental writing from international curators, Lisa Le Feuvre and Naoko Mabon, art historians Andrew Patrizio and Dominic Paterson, anthropologist Jerry Zee, and writer Nicola White. It also offers examples of Halperin's performance lectures, some of which appear in print for the first time.

This collection introduces Halperin's work to new generations of artists, writers, and environmental activists--those who will shape the critical landscapes of the twenty-first century.“Overall, the volume provides a rich combination of perspectives … The range of different voices and writing styles is impressive…the essays perform what they argue … a fascinating and rewarding read.”
—Marion Endt-Jones, author of Coral: Something Rich and Strange
 
“Felt Events perfectly captures how Ilana Halperin intertwines herself in art and geology. It permeates into the writing of the contributors just as it does for all those who witness her art.”
—Graham Domke, independent curator
 
“Halperin and this impressive line-up of contributors have crafted a precious space for us to gently unfold what we keep hidden: our awareness of the slow time of the earth, and our very short time upon it. Halperin’s art and this volume explore our interconnectivity with the natural environment and with each other. The timing of this book couldn’t be more pertinent.”
—Patricia Fleming, GlasgowDr. Catriona McAra is Assistant Director, Heritage Collections and Curation at University of St Andrews.