'The Urburb' Trailer
by Ian Sternthal
3:51 Min

'The Urburb' Trailer
by Ian Sternthal
3:51 Min

The Urburb presents a reflection upon 100 years of modernist development in Israel. The Urburb is a neologism which refers to the contemporary mesh of urban and suburban sprawl – a fragmented mosaic composed of the early twentieth century garden-city, agrarian settlements, mid-century social housing, and the generic residential typologies of the past two decades. This hybrid manifests the conflicting demands of the modernist machine functioning in the old-new land: to create small egalitarian communities while accommodating a large and diverse population; to spread throughout the country while converging and closing-in, and to reconnect to the land yet to do so via a top-down planning system that treats the surface as a clean slate.

In order to explore these dynamics, curators Ori Scialom, Dr. Roy Brand, Keren Yeala-Golan and Associate Curator Edith Kofsky transform the Israeli pavilion into a modernist construction site, filled with four large sand-printers, which automatically sketch the story of one hundred years of modernist planning in Israel, shifting in scale from national plans to those of single buildings. The printers are accompanied by a large-scale video and sound piece by Daniel Kiczales that plays the Urburb patterns as a music box. The printers present a multiplicity of scenarios dealing with themes like over-planning, pattern language, and the dynamics of printing and erasing. In the endlessly expanding Urburb environment, new residential communities continue to pop up, separated by large expanses of open land – locked in, dislocated and separated from the urban grid.

The complete sequence takes days to repeat. Regardless, no matter when you enter, the impression left is remarkably consistent; it conveys the experience of living within a modernist machine, under the signs of automation and the promise of utopian redemption. As quickly as the various schemes are etched into the sand, so are they wiped away, emphasizing how these generic pattern-oriented plans are “printed” from above according to changing ideologies and evolving master plans. Today, in the wake of one hundred years of modernism, it is time to explore its dynamics and understand the life it has fostered. Swinging between two parallel vectors—repetitive actions and fixed notions—the Urburb is the result of a particular modernist trajectory leading from an early emphasis on simplicity, compactness and equality to the inflated and homogenous neo-liberal formations of today.

  • Say Something About the Sea by Asaf Einy

    Pre-Order Now!

    Say Something About the Sea
  • 'Motherland' by Ruth Patir

    Available Now!

    Pre-order
  • 'Study For Woman' by Dana Darvish

    A new artist book is born!

    Study for Woman
  • LGBTQ+ LOVE אהבה גאה

    A photography archive of LGBTQ+ LOVE by MIchael Liani

    LGBTQ+ LOVE אהבה גאה
  • In The Studio with Merav & Halil

    Watch our Newest Film!

    In The Studio with Merav and Halil!
  • Hunting In Time

    Nominated by Aperture for Best First Photo Book!

    Watch Now
  • Odili Donald Odita

    Presenting the Limited Editions in Black & Gold Foil!

    Odili Donald Odita
  • Albino Hearts by Eitan Ben Moshe

    Coming Soon!

  • Blunt Liver / Blind Arch

    A new artist book by Shahar Yahalom

    Read More
  • A new film on Geert Van Kesteren

    A short film about Geert van Kesteren, who has been documenting conflict and humanitarian crisis throughout the world for over 25 Years.

    Click to Watch
  • Ronit Porat's 'Hunting in Time'

    A new Photography Book Coming Soon!

    Hunting In Time
  • ' A A O UE' by Keren Benbenisty

    An artist book which transforms The Burghley Collection, a vintage catalogue of Japanese porcelains collected by the upper echelons of western society into a series of fragmented ruins using scotch tape and an eraser.

    Read More
  • The New Aristocracy: Privatization In Israel

    Over a thirty-year period an enormously powerful class of local and international capitalists have gradually taken control of Israeli society. Here's how.

    Read More
  • David Horvitz's How To Shoplift Books in Hebrew

    Because shoplifting is so much fun! This artists book is a guide on how to steal books, detailing 80 whimsical ways to lift your favorite tome.

    Read More
  • Odili Donald Odita: In Practice

    This short film contextualized Odita's African Abstractionism within an American political and socio-cultural context.

    Click to Watch
  • The Lift: The Transfer (Haavara) Agreements / Artistic Research

    Leibling Haus / Bauhaus Dessau

    See The Book
  • Hillel Roman's 'Universal'

    By re-presenting a variety of internet-sourced utopian images, 'Universal' meditates upon how the Internet inverts hierarchies of knowledge, changing how information is exchanged, and unseating the dominance of experts within fields of knowledge.

    See the Book
  • Nevet Yitzhak: Video Works

    Nevet Yitzhak’s monograph ‘Video Works’ looks back at seven of the artists video installations, completed between 2007 and 2014.

    See The Book
  • 'In the Studio with Nahum Tevet'

    A new docu-series on contemporary artists from Israel created by Artis. Every few weeks we will be releasing a new film from the 20 part series.

    Watch Here
  • In the Studio with Nir Evron

    Watch our new film on Evron's provocative meditations on the construction of political and social histories.

    In the Studio with Nir Evron
  • In the Studio with Ella Littwitz

    A new film from our series with Artis!

    In the Studio with Ella Littwitz
  • A New Film on Ruth Patir

    On gender representation, relics, and political imagination in the digital age.

    In the Studio with Ruth Patir
  • A New Film on Michal Helfman

    On political possibilities within contemporary art

    Watch Now
  • Artis Presents 'In the Studio with Roee Rosen'

    A reflection on the ways that art involves embodying characters and identities in art.

    Watch Now!
  • A new Film on the painting collective 'New Barbizon'

    Part of the series In the Studio With, Created by Artis and Sternthal Books

    Artis Presents ‘In the Studio with New Barbizon’
  • A new Film on 'Elham Rokni'

    Part of the series In the Studio With, Created by Artis and Sternthal Books

    In the Studio with Elham Rokni
  • In the Studio with Karam Natour

    Watch Now!

    In the Studio with Karam Natour
  • In the Studio with Tamar Getter

    A new Film from our Series with Artis!

    Watch Now
  • In The Studio with Dor Zlekha Levy

    A new installment from our series with Artis

    In the Studio with Dor Zlekha Levy, 11:30 min.

Sternthal Books Print

Read

Watch Documentary

  • In The Studio
    with Merav and
    Halil, 9:14 min.
    Read More
  • Hunting Time with
    Ronit Porat, 12:05
    Read More
  • In the Studio with
    Dor Zlekha Levy,
    11:30 min.
    Read More
  • In the Studio with
    Michael Liani, 4:29 min.
    Read More
  • On 'Odili Donald Odita',
    6:47 min
    Read More
  • In the Studio with
    Tamar Getter, 13:05
    Read More
  • In the Studio with Karam Natour,
    11:11 min.
    Read More
  • In the Studio
    with Eli Petel,
    9:48 min.
    Read More
  • In the Studio with
    Elham Rokni, 9:49 min.
    Read More
  • Artis Presents 'In the
    Studio with New Barbizon',
    12:18 min.
    Read More
  • In the Studio
    with Roee Rosen,
    9:28 min.
    Read More
  • In the Studio with
    Shahar Yahalom,
    12:49
    Read More
  • In the Studio with
    Michal Helfman
    11:56
    Read More
  • In the Studio
    with Ruth Patir
    11:24
    Read More
  • In the Studio with
    Public Movement
    10:40
    Read More
  • In the Studio
    with Nirit Takele
    7:20
    Read More
  • In the Studio
    with Nir Evron
    8:46
    Read More
  • Geert Van Kesteren
    11:40
    Read More
  • Artis Presents:
    In the Studio with
    Nahum Tevet
    7:59 min
    Read More
  • Natural Worker
    Leor Grady
    8:13
    Read More
  • Guy Goldstein
    6:29
    Read More
  • Rami Maymon
    5:53
    Read More
  • Hilla Toony Navok
    5:48
    Read More
  • Eitan Ben Moshe
    6:32
    Read More
  • Maya Attoun
    7:37
    Read More
  • I24 Interview
    July, 2014
    5:52
    Read More
  • Thornwillow Press:
    Studio Visit
    Read More

Watch Trailers

  • 'Say Something
    About The Sea' Trailer
    6:19 min
    Read More
  • LGBTQ+ LOVE, by Michael Liani,
    7:09 min.
    Read More
  • 'Hunting in Time' by Ronit Porat,
    6:47 min.
    Read More
  • Flipping through
    Albino Hearts,
    by Eitan Ben-Moshe,
    7:37 min.
    Read More
  • The Road to Ein Harod,
    by Efrat Galnoor
    2:58 min.
    Read More
  • Blunt Liver by
    Shahar Yahalom,
    8:56
    Read More
  • Blind Arch by
    Shahar Yahalom,
    5:18
    Read More
  • Maya Attoun
    5:46
    Read More
  • Why, Mister, Why?
    Geert Van Kesteren
    20:35 min
    Read More
  • Natural Worker
    Leor Grady
    8:13
    Read More
  • Neve Yitzhak:
    Video Works
    4:24
    Read More
  • Einat Leader & David Goss
    Edited by Ian Sternthal
    2:21
    Read More
  • 5:22
    Read More
  • Rami Maymon
    2:33
    Read More
  • Flipping Through 'Odili Donald Odita',
    15:57 Min.
    Read More
  • Elham Rokni's '
    The Iblis, the Girl,
    the Sultan,
    & the Lion's Tail
    Read More
  • Songs Of Innocence and Experience: A Study Guide
    Read More
  • LifeObject: Merging Architecture & Biology
    Read More
  • 'A A O UE' Trailer
    by Ian Sternthal
    2:30 Min.
    Read More
  • ‘Universal’ Book Trailer
    Read More
  • Toda Vida
    Read More
  • The Rothfeld Collection
    Read More
  • 'First We
    Feel Then
    We Fall'
    Trailer
    Read More
  • ‘Hana’ by Hagar Cygler
    Read More
  • Yesterday's Sun
    by Uri Gershuni
    Read More
  • 'Hush: Israel Palestine 2000-2014 Trailer
    by Noa Ben Shalom
    2 Min.
    Read More
  • 'The Urburb' Trailer
    by Ian Sternthal
    3:51 Min
    Read More

Buy Books

Visit

About

Sternthal Books is an art book publishing company which uses print, motion, and digital media to examine current global issues from an artistic perspective. Through our experience, we shepherd our clients and collaborators through the various stages through which an idea is transformed into a finished product. We believe that art provides all people with the power to express ourselves, transform our surroundings, and make the world a better place. If you are an artist, gallery, or museum interested in publishing, please get in touch at contact@sternthalbooks.com, and for a more detailed list of available services scroll below.

This website is arranged according to media – Read, Watch, Visit, but when you click on a ‘Sternthal Book or Video’, each one acts as a container which brings together components from the various ‘media’: Every book we make is accompanied by a digital edition, a short film, and events and programming, rendering the substance of what we do far more significant then just a book.

Clients

Venice Biennale For Architecture, Artis, The Jack Shainman Gallery, Printed Matter Art Book Fair, Alon Segev Gallery, Chelouche Gallery, Braverman Gallery, UMapped.

Services

  • Strategy

    Sternthal Books works with artists, galleries, museums, and a variety of other cultural institutions to best communicate their program’s and exhibitions through a variety of digital, interactive, and print media. Our role varies according to our clients needs, with the capacity to see projects through from strategizing and concepting through production and promotion.

  • Concepting

    Through conversations, dialogue, and research, we sift through a large variety of visual material in order to seek out different approaches to best communicate messaging. Whether it be in the form of an artist book, a website, or a short film, each project starts with a clear conceptual point of departure.

  • Curation

    Through a process of selection and re-interpretation, we start each project of through a curatorial editing process, where we collaborate with artists to either sequence and arrange their work, and in many cases, embark on the creation of new works to best communicate the artist’s vision. The books and videos we aim to make are not mere representations of existing media, but are works of art in and above themselves.
  • Design

    During the design process we use a variety of models, and mockups, mood and story boards to begin to flesh out concepts, and bring them to reality.

  • Production

    Through our experience we have developed trusting relationships with a variety of programmers, designers, and printing companies in Asia, Europe, Israel, and North America. We can oversee, manage, and produce both audio visual and print projects from start to finish.

  • Promotion

    Through events, newsletters, pop up shops, and various collaborations, we also offer promotional support to our clients and collaborators, helping to provide exposure and visibility for artists and brands alike.

Contact

Schedule a meeting

Email us to schedule a meeting, either in New York, Montreal, or Tel-Aviv.

Design & UX: Naama Tobias
Code: Eli Krupitsky