About Artist
As an artist who lives in İstanbul and collaborates with the fields of historiography, politics and sociology, the works I have produced in the last twenty years are dialogues that feed upon the contradictions of space. My journey is meant to explore the limitless dimensions of our spatiality and to trace trans-disciplinary, social and spatial relations. There are no certainties in my art, neither a methodology though there are intentions. All of my personal exhibitions are composed of works that are grouped around specific themes and concepts and that make use of a diverse range of media. These themes are frequently combined in my installations. My exhibitions may be varied in their material and language; however, there is a semantic bond between them. The subject of each work determines the materials used and the form of the work. I am working on site-specific installations that examine and deconstruct the relations between spaces, ideas and the identities that represent them. I have defined the relationship between spatial dynamics and my works in the following terms: “Taking space into account and integrating it into the piece is a vital element of my production process. Space, with its physical, historical and socio-political dimensions, directs my production.” During research and production new issues come to the fore and this paves the way for my next set of works.
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
THE SHIP OF FOOLS
Venice,Italy, 2015
And Justice and Reason flew back to the heavens
Alas, now in their place, brigandage
Hatred, resentment, blood and carnage reigns
Ronsard, Discours des misères de ce temps
To be able to maintain the harmony he attributes to the world, the ruler of the established order must deem himself “reasonable” and his opposition “insane”. Since anyone envisaging the world, the universe some other way would pose a threat to his order. As long as the world is spinning and the powers are changing, the insane and the sane also change seats with one another. He who holds the power holds the right to be reasonable, while he who is frail is considered insane.
According to the environmental activists the rulers of the world, like madmen, rush towards their devastation. Yet if you ask the executives of the industrial world, the dreams of these vanguards who are possibly designing our path into the future are nothing but utter nonsense. In order to prove the contrary, the dissidents have to carry their dreams into power. And thus will begin the life of what they deem reasonable, a life that will only last until the establishment of another order.
Throughout history, this cycle remains unchanged. The insane swap places with the sane; and the sane replace the insane. Our personal ambitions also lead us to reject other ways of reasoning and seeing. We straitjacket others lest they act foolishly. We cut the ground from under their feet lest they force themselves on our established order. And in our small kingdoms, where there are only moments between enthronement and dethronement, we create an army of fools, ourselves included, who can “go nowhere”.
