Written in Partnership with Amir Bakian
Never have the artwork of David Kassman, who will be launching his Spiderman collection at the Basel Art Show this year, been so relevant as in 2022. With the Ukranian war as a background for 2022, David Kassman’s much awaited Spiderman project will be showcased on Dec-2-4th where he depicts and focuses on landmarks of conflict and reminds us again of the polarization within the human spirit.
David Kassman who himself has served in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) continues to explore global conflicts through his Spiderman project, dedicated to PSTD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) victims who continue to struggle with their internal battles on a daily basis. Through his Spiderman project, David Kassman reaches out to PSTD victims to let them know they are not alone.
The Spiderman project spans the globe in 25 locations known for their conflicts either today or historically. These include New York, Egypt, Germany, The Walling Wall, The Judea Dessert, Italy, Turkey, Jordan, and France. Israel, of course, had a strong presence with the Walling Wall.
Spiderman is Kassman’s younger brother, Ran, who struggles with PSTD, resulting from his service in the IDF. The costume plays a great role in Ran’s ongoing recovery process where a mental transformation unfolds as he wears the Spiderman costume and mentally transforms from the war zone state of mind to a superhero that has lived through it all.
Contrary to his role as a soldier where one has to fight while maintaining a protective cover, Spiderman is free to leap over the whole experience, to recreate reality for what it should and can be rather than for what it is.
Juxtaposing a superhero against a conflicted background in a single shot captures the essence of hope in all of us. Hope for a full transition from a state of war to a super-human recovery where war is simply a reminder of the past.
As with his superhero, so does Kassman leaps from real-life artwork to the Metaverse world where all his life’s work is showcased in extraordinary dimensions. It is in the Metaverse gallery, among those huge art pieces that one can fully capture Kassman’s work and powerful messages. Kassman takes this leap even further with his NFT art contest where every time one of his artwork will be put for sale, 250 players will bid at an NFT auction where the winner will win a one of a kind framed photograph delivered to their door.
Will Kassman and his Spiderman visit Ukraine to at least symbolically create yet another metaphor for a conflict that is yet to be resolved?
To visit Kassman’s Metavers click here: https://www.spatial.io/s/David-63146c02c49050000147d782?share=3302013915264006458
Website: https://davidkassman.com/
Instagram.com/david.kassman
About David Kassman,
A world-renowned photographer David Kassman, who was born in Israel spent the last 15 years delivering the world to us through his lens. In the last few years, Kassman also works with Dona Karen as a leading photographer. He teaches photography at the Israel prestigious Shenkar University of Art. In his art, David captures natural elements, areas of conflict, and global pollution and constantly mirrors how the human species interact with nature, in war and the trauma it inflicts on nature just as the trauma war inflicts on humans. The retrospective nature of his work and the message of hope it conveys along with on the one hand, self-criticism of humans as a race, and yet never forgetting the spark of hope within, are the reason for his work to be sought after worldwide.
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