Elephants, compressed

Tal Horesh
2026, Pencil on paper

This series examines memory as a process of compression: the reduction of complex forms into structures that can be efficiently stored, but not necessarily correctly reconstructed.
Referencing data compression and computer memory, the works adopt the visual language of coding and of technical diagrams to describe systematic transformations. These systems appear coherent, yet they produce results that are incomplete, unstable or absurd.
⁠The works contrast the mechanical, virtual models of storage with the slow, imperfect process of reconstruction/drawing. What remains is a shadow of the original: a version shaped by loss.