Can you introduce yourself and tell a little bit about your background?
I was born & grew up in Frankfurt / Main. I lived in Capetown for a short period before my move to Ireland. I worked full time for six years and saved up for my studies, so that could earn my B.A in Fine Art at Crawford College of Art & Design in Cork.
In 2008/09 I moved to Berlin; a Travel & Training Award from the Arts Council of Ireland funded a Residency in Berlin / Kreuzberg. And at the same time, I was very thankful to be given the opportunity to take up an artist assistant position. Thus, my transitional phase from Ireland to Germany had a lot of support. My education continued by earning my Diploma & Master in Fine Art [Meisterschülerin] at the University of Arts in Berlin/UDK.
Being a German - Turkish artist has its advantages, having a double dip of options in terms of cultures and, let’s say, habits so that you can pick out the best ones you agree with and like. But also this has the disadvantages of having to explain yourself a lot, when arriving to a new scene. It is a continuous merry-go-round sort of situation. There and here. Everywhere.
I compare this act of being, on a larger scale, to the struggle to analyse contemporary art. So many people think they must understand it. Although its perfectly fine, if you don’t. The concepts underlying of works are described in detail, sometimes done to death, on hand-outs in exhibition spaces.
However culture is I would argue a collective programming of our minds and a sort of ´Orientation-system´. We need to open up, of course, in order to get a feel for our social surroundings and educate each other.
Yet it can be exhausting at times, that others are trying to place you somewhere. Therefore the standard background answer, for me at least, is not a super intense burning ambition to name-drop about who I´ve studied, exhibited or worked with. It doesn’t seem worth doing. Unless you somehow managed to lose yourself as an artist during your studies or artistic career. Names could come up of course, because you remember these individuals taught you something valuable. And certainly it’s not helpful to just copy and paste in your artist statement.
Thirdly it´s also about how to get the feel of the artist who sits across from you right now, without getting labelled or distracted by names. Right ?
Not sure, but it feels right.
How did you feel to be in Istanbul as an artist during the your Berlin Senat Residency program?
Well firstly I was thrilled that I had the honour to come here and was very excited to get to know the cultural side and art scene of Istanbul in much more depth.
I had not really had the chance before this to live and work here for a longer period in order to explore, and meet many of my Turkish colleagues.
Gezi was greatly effective in an engaging way. More than ever, I realized that the system in general is hypocritical and faulty. Not only in Turkey…Therefore I cannot answer your question of how I experienced the Residency program, after the torch was given to others almost a decade later.
I spent almost two months during my cultural exchange program, not in Istanbul but in the mountains of Mesopotamia, while waiting for renovations to finish. Due to further circumstances I rented my own apartment independently upon return to Istanbul. I am very glad the bridge is still in place and is properly functioning for others who came after me.
Regardless.
-The disaster plan of renovating, reconstructing the State Opera in Berlin for
3,89-billions of Euro so far´ (Ref.1.1./1.2)
Istanbul during that time made me homeless, made me freak out several times, get braver, puke, become more ambitous, document more, and brought me to limits I never thought I had, through working harder and seeing things differently after.
Everyone in the West says there is a strong sense of ´freedom of speech´ and it is law in Germany (GG), Article 5.
§3 Art and scholarship, research, and teaching shall be free.
The question is what disadvantages will it have if you practise your freedom ofspeech? Even through your art? Can you criticize faulty Systems? Criticise someone who is in a higher range or position than you? What consequences will it have?
Daring and risking is also part of how practising art.
All in all, I had a great time in Istanbul & along the Euphrates and wouldn’t want to miss it for the world. It educated me more than I´ve ever imagined, in both locations and helped me further to belong in Turkey and I am very thankful.
What can you say about the differences between İstanbul to Berlin for artist?
a.) Berlin has a lot more artists, off spaces & alternative project spaces around. The opposite is true in Istanbul.
b.) I love the way that the art and cultural scene is not as gigantic in Istanbul so it is easier to navigate. And most people in the art world there are very open to meet and get to know you.
c.) Shared big artist houses don’t exist here. Everyone is working more by themselves. One exception is the new Space in Kadiköy, which is one of a kind - it is the first squatted bigger shared artist studio. I’m sure there’s a lot more than I am aware of out there and needs time and patience to be discovered. If not I´m sure such shared spaces will come in time.
d.) There are no official state-subsidized workshops in Istanbul to rent, or evident private studio rental access for artists. You really have to look for them over here or ask others for recommendations. It is almost like a scavenger hunt.
There is no fast jump in between interdisciplinary Art production, for new arrivals at least. Whereas in Berlin it is easier to access, especially for new comers, and there are visible prices.
e.) There are also a lot of parallels. A lot of districts in Berlin are also characterized by gentrification. The Initiation of a new group called AbBA, emerged recently with 500 artists so far. Some studio buildings are subsidized for limited time frames, but there are certainly not enough out there.
f.) Goldrausch Künstlerinnen IT is a one year program for female artists only, in order to professionalize and educate. I am not sure if something like that exists in Istanbul?
g.) A lot of exhibition spaces and the Biennale are sponsored by Banks over here.
Also the next German Pavilion - at the 56th Venice Biennale - is mainly sponsored also by a Bank. So it is the same principle of corporate sponsorship.
Regardless, the Art Market and System itself does create, both here and in Berlin, a very strong sense of competition but there is hypocrisy around this which hinders solidarity. Probably that is true everywhere though.
Who doesn’t want to earn for their labor ? Why look up or down on these ? Think of Damien Hirst bombing out the Artmarket by himself. The act itself was conceptual. Never mind the Diamonds on his Skull piece. [ I don’t totally follow. Bombing out?? Skull - this is called For the Love of God by the way]
You use different mediums such as , video, collages and print works. In what kind of process do produce them?
It is like a drawing. I´m not afraid of mistakes and will deliberately then leave them visible within my work. Failures transform in what my art becomes. Look at the outcome series of videos, Displacement of a cultural self-portrait.
During 2009 / 2010 I took part in Hito Steyerl´s alternative Workers Punk Art School in a Backyard Studio Space. Offered for free and open to everyone, there were seminars, talks, lectures that she had independantly organized and brought in.
During that time I started to experiment with visuals and moved away from the more intellectual approach to write a theatrical screenplay / loose performance. Then ended up with four characters of human-animals. Each represented: crises, moral, politics, critics. It dealt with a fourth Wall principle.
However human animals as sculpted heads and smaller collages had been pretty much in my head, and studio, before when back in Ireland. I took up there the Idea of the Pig – no pork allowed or the Sheep representing Ireland and its hypocritical Catholic Church values.
Ultimately these human animals talk about planning a Revolution on a theatrical set, based in a children´s park. A naive and somewhat ironic Idea of Revolution, as Utopia. Utopia as Revolution.
A fierce loop that it can create of wanting to break with the past and start anew.
The Performance is abtract and still in progress. With my Interest in the cycle of life and death, visually as a merry-go-round. Here everything changes constantly both the meaning and form. Unless you go back to Nature itself. Representing the only cycle when fully intact, which doesn´t change form or meaning.
Big words are very hard to reflect upon, unless you are within it and let it happen naturally perhaps. Even harder to narrow down are exact reasons of many in order to visualize in different form. Rather than a one to one direct / minimal or standard translation in works of art.
Remembering and picking up my initial Idea from the past, previous past and meditating this time on hazy-human-animal notions led to, Paper – Collages in Istanbul 2013/14. These used naïve, 1920´s old soft porn images, combined with found images of animals. The thought that all humans have an animal, brutish unpredictable side of themselves linked to the transition of generic race from human to animal and vice versa: a cycle of life.
I always think of differences, communications in social classes, structures and surroundings and take that often as a starting point for my works. In addition to my very basic preliminary thought: What happens if we were far out in Nature. With a different mix of people brought together and suddenly, we see a big bear standing in front of us? All of us there would automatically be in the same position. All differences of class or background will vanish within seconds, instantly. These were my thoughts in Istanbul, and while along the Euphrates. Scattered before subconsciously, from Ireland to Berlin.
At first Istanbul-Chaos reminded me of my art practice. A fully functioning structure within. It might´nt condence in short pitches. It’s hard to follow, except when you are in it, working. A picture of a big puzzle sort of situation. However it comes together at the end, continues like a domino effect.
I also learned whilehere, not to push myelf too hard; reflect, take a breather, find a place to hide in order to make progress, regain strength. Always expect the unexpected. Don’t rush, even if everything else around is on different time zones, loud and on super sonic speed. Try to think smarter and try at least to get a little more foxy.
Do you have turning point periods, events in your artistic process?
After overdosing with digital injections in a lens-based class. I realized I needed to go back to analogue forms of work. I decided the way forward, is the way back - in going all the way back, for my artistic practice. Finding a good balance is important. Digital work can be quite particular. I could not only do one or the other, perhaps. However.
I think of dark rooms, constantly exposed to computer screens, cable chaos, must have program updates, many different types of equipment, connections not fitting,
Not being physically active, tired in mind only a lot of the time. Whereas, with a piece of paper and charcoal, you are ready to go. It is simple and not overly on top complicated.
During my time spent in Istanbul last year I saw a lot of ´practical ‘skilled art.
This in turn reminded me a lot of Ireland and my beginning of art practice.
Working conceptually, either with Videos or analogue forms of works brings out the question whether one should entirely work from the initial Idea to final result. Perhaps with a clean-shaven concept and perfectly designed outcome it might not leave room for accidents or surprises. This is especially the case when assigning production to other parties. Unless you work alongside them, ideally on the spot in order to make effective decisions… always, there is a fine line between creating and assigning production.
Secondly
I was given the opportunity to meet Zhang Peili on a tutorial session during my studies in Berlin.
He agreed that whether I should work entirely conceptually or bring in my Intuition into my artworks is a legitimate question. ´ve learned to better use my instincts and. Combine that with my own concept, which took time to develop over many years. But I am pretty much satisfied that I have arrived.
This brings me to another turning point of many worth mentioning.
What is political in Art? Art or Politics? Isn’t every artwork in a way political? And isn’t being a practicing artist a political act?
The representation can be beautiful or horrific, Intellectual or naïve, packed or minimal. Living and growing up in Western Europe, I realized that it made the position of artists for the last while – swelling up to a sort of super-hyped fashion show in order and for any price – make super political artworks. I think it doesn’t work like that.
Either you have had a very personal experience you dig into visually – or have a dual cultural background, which makes you question things naturally without the pressure of labeling art as politics or vice versa automatically.
There is enough conceptual confusion, fear and ignorance out there, to create or understand works of art. Whether artists feel the pressure in general to get criticized to a ridiculous degree, or feel they have to be super political or intellectual with their explanation of concept and output. This results in visual barricades and a stage of super self-awareness, due to what YOU think is demanded of you – which might not work at all somehow in reality.
Art is free.
I choose not to put myself under pressure in having to tailor the actual fit.
Conceptual work can among other things open up dialoguess, thoughts or arguments.
It would be wonderful to change the world with art. We saw hope, humor at certain stages with the re-built and decorated public Bus Stop in Istanbul by creative protestors. Daily, new witty Graffiti appeared, which make you smile.
This was clearly not a ‘white cube’, exhibition planned out well in advance.
Certainly it is not a question of right and wrong. It´s a question about choices, everyone has a right to choose.
Creativity for me, not only for artists, is when exchanges become an important engine for our social development. Dealing with the natural instinct of having the urge to change things and want the survival of revolutionary ideals. Although we find the difficulty in its action in our present.
Are there any new projects, expositions, exhibitions in thefuture?
I will try making up for lost time.
I´ve spent a month now working in a Silkscreen Printstudio and will be hopefully back this year. There is a lot more to discover, not only within the space of archive at Salt Galata, which I´d like to use properly next time.
In May I will for the first time, VJ for DJ Ipek Ipekcioglu, within the program of Berlin-Istanbul2, in Berlin.
That’s all I would like to share for now. It’s like a leaf of paper falling, it can turn around and change within seconds.
The definite plan is – as always - to continue to work on my art, when I arrive back in Berlin.
Reference:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/declines-in-funds-and-space-threaten-berlin-arts-scene-a-824497.html
2014 : cultural secretary Schmitz resigns, followed by Berlin Mayor Wowereit
