bkz.1 bkz. - beekayzed.com
Transkript
bkz.1 bkz. - beekayzed.com
bkz.1 bkz. bkz. A new thing to look at in Istanbul / ‹stanbul’da bak›lacak yeni bir fl e y . September / Eylül 2003 Flip Flop Flyin’ is Craig Robinson, an artist, illustrator, designer and animator who lives and works in Berlin. His career started with his website (www.flipflopflyin.com) that entertained over 7,000 visitors a day. Following its success he went on to create the sites Shakse and Technically Perfect Hair as well as commissions for an impressive client list that includes Colette, Levis and SHOWstudio.com. Flip Flop Flyin’, Berlin’de yaflayan, sanatç›, illüstratör, tasar›mc› ve animatör olan Craig Robinson’d›r. Kariyeri, günde 7000’in üstünde ziyaretçiyi e¤lendiren web sitesini (www.flipflopflyin.com) yapmas›yla bafllad›. Bu baflar›n›n ard›ndan, Colette, Levis ve SHOWstudio.com’› içeren etkileyici bir müflteri listesi için yapt›¤› ifllere ilaveten, Shakse ve Technically Perfect Hair sitelerini yaratt›. 1.1.bkz. bkz. bkz.1.3 bkz. bkz. Craig Robertson (Flip Flop Flyin’) One of three frames of an animated gif / Animasyonu yap›lm›fl üç gif’ten biri. Solo exhibitons / Kiflisel Sergiler 2003 Everybody's Dogs, Sapporo, Japan / Japonya Yummy Yummy Yummy I Got Love In My Tummy, Amsterdam, Netherlands / Hollanda Pavel Büchler image courtesy the artist Promos / Tan›t›mlar Giardini di Miro David Tao (Animator / Director) / (Animatör / Yönetmen) www.flipflopflyin.com www.shakse.com www.technicallyperfecthair.com www.showstudio.com Guy Bar Amotz*, Studio Apartment, Pavel Büchler, Billy Childish, Jeremy Deller, donAtella, Christian Jendreiko, Mark Leckey, Nathaniel Mellors, Jonathon Monk with Dave Allen, Ross Sinclair and Douglas Gordon, Mark Titchner and John Spiteri, Red Crayola with Art+Language* We’ll meet you in the lobby A selection of artists’ recordings on vinyl, available to play throughout the Istanbul Biennial in the Lobby at the Büyük Londra Oteli, ‹stanbul. Organised by Joanna Stella-Sawicka and November Paynter. * CDs available to play at Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center Lobide Bulufluyoruz 33’Lük sanatç› plaklar›ndan bir seçme 18 Eylül’den itibaren ‹stanbul Bienali boyunca ‹stanbul Büyük Londra Oteli’nin lobisinde çal›nacak. Joanna Stella-Sawicka ve November Paynter düzenlemesidir. *CD Platform Garanti Güncel Sanat Merkezi’nde dinlenebilir. bkz. Büyük Londra Oteli, Tepebafl›, Meflrutiyet Caddesi 117, 80050 Beyo¤lu, Istanbul 18 September – 16 November 2003 18 Eylül – 16 Kas›m 2003 jo@stella-sawicka.fsnet.co.uk novembergp@hotmail.com bkz1.2. . Erden Kosova writing an email from London to November Paynter in Istanbul Erden recently co-curated an exhibition in Graz Austria and is currently coordinating a collaboration between the Istanbul based art-ist magazine and K&S Gallery in Berlin. . Erden Kosova, Londra’dan Istanbul’da bulunan November Paynter’a e-mail yaz›yor. Erden, son olarak Avusturya, Graz’da bir serginin yard›mc› küratörlü¤ünü yapt› ve halen Istanbul’dan Art-ist dergisiyle Berlin’deki K&S Galeri aras›nda bir iflbirli¤i düzenliyor. www.istanbul.mur.at In London from Istanbul i cannot remember what i had said in our now lost correspondence two months ago and certainly things change, emotions do at least, definitely. being in two different places at the same time, mentally of course, was the richness of my four years stay in london i guess. i ve flown back and forth between the two cities and the consequent cohabitation of the urban scenarios in my mind was the decisive dimension throughout, not being in london as someone from istanbul, not being in istanbul as someone studying in london but operating through two different rhythms and intensities simultaneously. not a difficult thing as it Londra’da – ‹stanbul’dan ‹ki ay önceki, flu anda kaybolmufl olan yaz›flmam›zda ne söylemifltim tam hat›rlayam›yorum, o zamandan beri kesinlikle bir çok fley de¤iflti -en az›ndan duygular, kesinlikle. Ayn› anda iki farkl› yerde olmak, zihinsel olarak tabii ki, Londra’da yaflad›¤›m dört senenin zenginli¤iydi san›r›m. ‹ki flehir aras›nda gidip gelirken, ayn› anda iki farkl› yerde yaflaman›n oluflturdu¤u üçüncü bir kent senaryosu olufltu belki de zihnimde: Londra’dayken ‹stanbul’dan gelmifl, ‹stanbul’da ise Londra’da ö¤renim gören herhangi biri olma durumu ancak bu iki kentteyken, ayn› anda iki farkl› ritm ve yo¤unlukta hareket etme lüksü. Ritm ve yo¤unluk ba¤lam›nda, bu iki flehir aras›nda, first sounds, since these two cities have more in common in relation to rhythm and intensity than divergences. two ex-imperial-capitals whose hearts still beat up with the habits of a past. what i miss about istanbul is perhaps this very ghost of that past, a certain melancholia, an elegancy of the horizontal, a grace, a broken poem. otherwise, the humming of the current urban hive scares me a lot, the crowd which is excessive for the material conditions of this urban texture seems like a swamp ready to suck energies (of mine). what i will miss about london is also a ghost but a negative one, a ghost of the parties i could never go to, the clubs i never saw, the gigs i could never afford, the tall, handsome, self-sufficient, spoilt, empty sexiness i never tasted. farkl›l›ktan çok ortak noktalar varm›fl ve bu sebeple yaflam zor de¤ilmifl gibi görünebilir. ‹ki eski imparatorluk baflkenti de hala geçmiflin al›flkanl›klar›yla yafl›yor. Belki de ‹stanbul’a duydu¤um özlem geçmiflin hayaletinin ta kendisi; belirgin bir melankoli, flehrin siluetinin zerafeti, incelik, k›r›k bir fliir. Di¤er yandan, flehrin bir ar› kovan›n› and›ran u¤ultusu beni korkutuyor, flehrin dokusunu oluflturan büyük kalabal›k sanki, tüm enerjiyi /enerjimi içine çekmeye haz›r bir batakl›k gibi görünüyor. Londra ile ilgili olarak da bir hayaleti özlüyorum, ama bu seferki sanki bir gölge; asla gidemedi¤im partilerde, asla görmedi¤im gece klüplerinde, asla parasal olarak karfl›layamayaca¤›m konserlerde, uzun, yak›fl›kl›, kendine güvenli, fl›mar›k, asla tadamad›¤›m bofl bir seksilikte. bkz1.4. bkz. bkz. Emre Do¤ru www.20000000.com bkz.1.6 bkz. A frustrated writer writes: This was my story. I just didn’t get round to doing it. That is sometimes my story too. To be a potential author is a great refuge for those whose fields of career opportunities are either barren, thankless, or require too much sacrifice. But to be an author you kind of need a subject to write about. When, last February, Scanner mentioned a festival that he couldn’t get to, in Russia a decade ago, I thought I might have found the subject for my book. See if this comes together. In the early years of a new Russia (politics/ global situation) a young promoter put together a showcase of electronica in Moscow. The stars of a British scene that hadn’t yet properly formed went off to do their thing. Most of them have since become either known or respected for their work, and there is a case to be put that this festival, by bringing them together and putting them on an international stage for the first time, was the catalyst that provided a new genre of music with the confidence to carry on (cultural history). The promoter seemed to be ahead of his time. Or marketed the thing badly. The audience was a bunch of Russian Mafia (danger/ a different story). One of the performers was the Aphex Twin, who played a typically uncompromising set. Until he was ushered off stage by one of the audience at gunpoint, presumably because his girlfriend wanted something ‘more fun – isn’t this a nightclub?’. One part of the history of contemporary music was there for the taking, but there were other things going on in this would-be author’s life – to the extent that it remained a fragment on a fragment of paper. Luckily, we have artists to develop ideas further: Over to you, Scanner. A frustrated writer writes: This was my story. I just didn’t get round to doing it. That is sometimes my story too. To be a potential author is a great refuge for those whose fields of career opportunities are either barren, thankless, or require too much sacrifice. But to be an author you kind of need a subject to write about. When, last February, Scanner mentioned a festival that he couldn’t get to, in Russia a decade ago, I thought I might have found the subject for my book. See if this comes together. In the early years of a new Russia (politics/ global situation) a young promoter put together a showcase of electronica in Moscow. The stars of a British scene that hadn’t yet properly formed went off to do their thing. Most of them have since become either known or respected for their work, and there is a case to be put that this festival, by bringing them together and putting them on an international stage for the first time, was the catalyst that provided a new genre of music with the confidence to carry on (cultural history). The promoter seemed to be ahead of his time. Or marketed the thing badly. The audience was a bunch of Russian Mafia (danger/ a different story). One of the performers was the Aphex Twin, who played a typically uncompromising set. Until he was ushered off stage by one of the audience at gunpoint, presumably because his girlfriend wanted something ‘more fun – isn’t this a nightclub?’. One part of the history of contemporary music was there for the taking, but there were other things going on in this would-be author’s life – to the extent that it remained a fragment on a fragment of paper. Luckily, we have artists to develop ideas further: Over to you, Scanner. bkz1.5. bkz. Andrew Foxall T-shirt design / Tiflört tasarımı Scanner’›n kat›lmad›¤› Rus Festivali hakk›nda kitap 22 Temmuz 2003’de Scanner’dan gelen cevap Çok seyahat ederim, belki de çok fazla. Pasaportum, ifllerimin ve fikirlerimin tafl›nd›¤› küresel kullan›m›n küçük bir modeli gibi. Rusya’da hiç bulunmad›m. ‹nan›lmaz derecede güzel, eski James Bond filmlerindeki gibi entrika ve tehlike dolu oldu¤unu duydu¤um bu ülkeye bir gün gitmek istiyorum. Bu festivale hiç gitmedim bir anlamda gitmeli miydim ki. Ben büyük bir kanvas üzerindeki küçük bir leke gibiyim. Oradakilerin bir k›sm› ifllerimi biliyordu, ama geri kalan ço¤unluk için ben tamamen görünmezdim. Asl›nda bu durumu de¤ifltirmek gibi bir gayretim de yok, sadece "geçici yay›nlar" olarak adland›rabilece¤im, y›llar içinde meydana getirilmifl ifller, sanat çerçevesinde duygular›m› ortaya koyuyor. Daha önce ‹stanbul’da da hiç bulunmad›m, ancak ikinci ve art›k bir klasik olan James Bond filmi "Rusya’dan Sevgilerle" filmini izlemifltim. Gördü¤ünüz gibi, nerede oldu¤um ve baflkalar›n›n imgelemi arac›l›¤›yla nerede bulundu¤um aras›nda daima bir ba¤lant› var. Asl›nda hepimiz baflkalar›n›n hayalgücü arac›l›¤›yla yafl›yoruz, belki bir yönden ben de o baflkalar›ndan biriyim ve siz de metni okuyorsunuz. Robin Rimbaud-Scanner www.scannerdot.com bkz. Scanner aka Robin Rimbaud Scanner will be performing from 20:30 at Babylon on 20th September as part of the ctrl-alt-del project developed by Baflak fienova, Paul Devens and Emre Erkal. bkz. Scanner (Taray›c›) lakapl› Robin Rimbaud Scanner, Baflak fienova, Paul Devens ve Emre Erkal taraf›ndan gelifltirilen ctrl-alt-del projesi kapsam›nda 20 Eylül 2003’te saat 20.30’da Babylon’da sahne alacak. www.scannerdot.com www.project-ctrl-alt-del.com www.babylon-ist.com 1.7. Haftal›k ajanda yorgunlu¤u üzerine Haftan›n befl günü çal›flt›¤›n›z›, ya da genelgeçer bir tahminle haftan›n befl günü ö¤rencilik yapt›¤›n›z› varsayan, haftan›n akflamlar›n› kendinize ay›rm›fl oldu¤unuzu öngören bir kültür endüstrisinin canl› denekleri olarak yaflad›¤›n›z› biliyor musunuz? Türkiye’deki kabine de¤iflikliklerinin flapka de¤ifltirir gibi ‘kolaylaflt›r›lmas› ’ ve potansiyel tasarruf nüvesi olarak görülmesiyle birlikte, Kültür ve Turizm bakanl›klar›n›n birlefltirilmesinin tart›fl›ld›¤› flu dönemde, tatil köylerindeki tur operatörleri veya animatörlerin gösterdikleri insanüstü çaba ve özverinin bir benzeri, son 20 y›lda yeni yeni boy atmaya bafllayan, hatta boyundan büyük ifllere kalk›flan Türk kültür ve sanat kurumlar› içinde de oldukça bafl döndürücü biçimde ortaya konuluyor. Bunun en taze ve ‘trendy’ örne¤ini ise, gündelik ve periyodik medyan›n (say›s› ülke genelindeki tirajlara bak›ld›¤›nda üç milyonu geçmeyen bilinçli bilinçsiz okuruyla) ‘halka arzetti¤i’ gayr›meflru kültür ve sanat reçeteleri diyebilece¤imiz ‘ajanda’lar oluflturuyor. Ajanda, bilebildi¤im kadar, bir insan›n bofl vaktini doldurmas› ve programlamaya çal›flmas› eylemini prati¤e dönüfltürdü¤ü küçük rehber defterlere veya ka¤›t parçalar›na deniliyor. Her yeni y›l, tüm yurtta ve d›fl temsilciliklerde binlerce ajanda promosyonuyla da kutlan›yor; biliyorsunuz son- On weekly diary weariness Do you realise that you are living as a live test subject for a culture industry that assumes you work five days a week, or perhaps study for those five days, and then goes on to presume that you keep the weekday evenings for yourself? When we debate whether to merge the Culture and Tourism ministries in Turkey we realise that changes in Turkey’s cabinet are made with as little thought as changing one’s hair. These days, a headspinning new example of superhuman effort and dedication shown by tour operators and entertainment managers of holiday villages, is mimicked by Turkish culture and art institutions who have taken on a new prominence in the last 20 years to even provide activities beyond their means. The freshest and most "trendy" example of these new duties are ‘diaries’, the unofficial cultural and artistic prescriptions ‘demanded by the public’, which appear daily and periodically in the media (and whose readership, accordng to national circulation figures, never exceeds three million informed or uninformed people). A diary, as far as I know, is a little book or collection of papers, in which a person schedules and plans to fill or arrange their free time. Every New Year and radan çürümeye bafllayan ajandalar da yüzde 50’ye varan indirimlerle hepimize birinci s›n›f müsvedde defteri vazifesi görebiliyor . Bu meselenin kültür endüstrisiyle ilgisi ise fluradan kaynaklan›yor kan›mca; sistemin, asl›nda hayat›n›z›n en de¤erli parças› haline getirdi¤i o seçim yapma özgürlü¤ünüz, ajandan›za ekledi¤iniz her bir madde ile, taraf›n›zdan belirlenirken, bu seçimlerin topunun ‘sizin iradenizle’ yap›ld›¤› düflüncesi dayat›l›yor. Sessiz bir dayatma bu. ‹nan›n öyle. Sanat›n ve sanatç›n›n yan›nda ‘Profesyonel’leflen her e¤lence ve kültür ürünü, beraberinde kimi ‘profesyonelleri’ hayatlar›ndan edecek derecede a¤›r sorumluluklar ve maddi yükümlülükler de getirebiliyor. ‹flin finansal ve sosyal bo¤uculu¤u, yapt›r›m kudreti ve reklam kirlili¤i bir yana, hayatlar›m›z› oluflturan günler ve saatlerin ‘bofl zaman’lar›n›, bir bak›ma an›lar›m›z› bu kurumsal organizasyonlar üzerinden programlamaktan neredeyse büyük bir memnuniyet duydu¤umuz bile söylenebilir. Bir yan›yla hepimiz, ajandalar›m›za kendi adalar›m›z›n günceleri gözüyle bile bak›yoruz da diyebiliriz bu duruma. fiunu kendime sormaktan çekinmiyorum: ‘Birilerinin hayat›m› programlamas›na’ nereye kadar izin vermeliyim? Aç›kças› ben, randevular›na hep geç kalan, tuttu¤u hiçbir defterin sonunu getiremeyen bir insan›m. Bu ‘programs›zl›k’ bende bir reflekse dönüfltü desem yeri. Zira, medyan›n da üretti¤i sa¤l›ks›z reçetelerden elimden geldi¤ince uzak kalmaya özen gösteriyorum. Bu, her bir etkinli¤in kötü oldu¤u anlam›na gelmiyor. Burada dikkat çekmek istedi¤im, her ne olursa olsun ‘yapmak istedi¤iniz’ bir fleyin ‘önceden bilinebilirli¤i’ne ne kadar tahammül edip etmedi¤inizi kendinize bir kereli¤ine bile olsa sorabilmeniz. Çünkü bu da bir özelefltiri biçimi ve özelefltiriler, sizleri gerçek elefltirilerin nankör ve sözünü sak›nmayan bahçesinden içeri alabilecek yegane gizli girifller olabilir. Bu özelefltirinin biliflsel flemsiye ve iradesi alt›nda kurdu¤unuz yaflam tarz›yla, kültür ve sanat ürünlerinin Türkiye’de ne kadar verimli ve etkileflimli bir elefltiri mekanizmas› üretip üretmedi¤ini de sorgulayabilirsiniz. E¤er burada mesele ba¤›ms›zl›k ise; ki öyle görünüyor, size hayat› biraz da programlamamaya çal›flman›z› sal›k veriyorum. Bofl zaman›n›z› kimsenin, hatta hiçbir kültür ve sanat ürününün ‘de¤er’lendirmesine izin vermemeyi bir deneyin. O zaman bu faaliyetlerin sizleri gerçekte hangi ‘art› de¤er’lerle bafl bafla b›rakt›¤›n› fark edebilirsiniz. Ya da tam tersi bir bak›flla, hayat›n›z›n sonuna geldi¤inizde, dolmufl ve kullan›lm›fl ajandalar›n›z›n hat›ralar› aras›nda yorgun arg›n, melankolik gözlerle gezinirken küçük bir noktay› biraz geç de olsa fark edebilirsiniz: ‘Bunca ajanda sayfas› aras›nda kendime verdi¤im bir randevu olmad› m› hiç?’ on an international scale, companies celebrate the event by publicisng thousands of promotional diaries. As you know, these diaries, that supposedly have a set practical life-term, can serve us all as first class scrap books, with discounts approaching 50 percent. I believe that one’s interest in the contemporary culture industry should arise here. With every item added to a diary being the owner’s freedom of choice, the system then proposes these leisure events as the most important in life because they were apparently made with ‘one’s own free will’. This is a silent imposition. Believe it. Every form of entertainment and product of art that is ‘professionalised’ by art and artists themselves, exerts a heavy responsibility and financial cost on those that go to experience it. Leaving aside the financial and social suffocation work brings, the power of investment and the corruption of advertising, it is possible to say that we feel great satisfaction in organising our days and hours of free time and even our memories according to these institutional events. In a way, all of us look at our diaries as the journals of our own islands. I am not afraid to ask myself where to draw the line when allowing others to arrange my life. To be honest, I am a person who is always late for meetings and who has never used the last page of a single notebook I’ve used. It would be true to say that this lack of organisation has become a reflex action for me. Indeed, I take great care to stay as far away as possible from any of the unhealthy prescriptions created by the media. That is not to say that every event is bad. What I want to stress here, is that you should ask yourself at least once how much predictability you tolerate in something, however much you want to do it. Because this is a form of self-criticism and self-criticism can be the sole entrance to a garden of real criticism, ingratitude and frankness. With a lifestyle formed under the umbrella of self-criticism and will power, you may find yourself able to question the contribution of cultural and artistic products in Turkey and consider whether they have developed a reciprocal mechanism for criticism. If the issue here is independence, and it looks like it is, I would recommend you try to disorganise your life a little, then you will be able to see what ‘added values’ these activities present. Or to look at it another way, when you come to the end of your life and you scan the lines of your filled and used diaries with weary, melancholic eyes, you might belatedly notice a small point: "Was there not one single appointment for me in all those diary pages?" bkz.1.8 bkz. bkz. Emre Do¤ru www.20000000.com . . Evrim Altu¤ Arts Correspondent, Radikal / Radikal Gazetesi, sanat muhabiri. www.radikal.com.tr Ertan Uça www.20000000.com bkz 1.9. bkz. . Cevdette Erek Images taken from his flat in Nisantasi as an elderly woman slips on the ice, winter 2002. Cevdet Erek is exhibiting a collaborative work with Emre Erkal in the 8th International Istanbul Biennial 18th September - 16th November 2003. Sanatç›n›n, 2002 k›fl›nda, Niflantafl›’ndaki evinde buz üstünde kayan ihtiyar bir kad›n olarak kaydetti¤i görüntüler. Cevdet Erek, 18 Eylül – 16 Kas›m 2003 tarihleri aras›nda, 8. Uluslararas› Istanbul Bienali’nde Emre Erkal ile ortaklafla bir çal›flma sergileyecek. www.istfest.org bkz.1.10 bkz. Andrew Foxall 2002 bkz.1.12 bkz. bkz. Iain Foxall Prelude to Thrill, 2003 icfoxall@hotmail.com bk1.11. bkz. Paul Noble Untitled / ‹simsiz, 2003 A drawing specially created for bkz. Paul Noble is exhibiting in the 8th International Istanbul Biennial 18th September - 16th November 2003. . bkz. için özel olarak üretilmifl bir desen Paul Noble, 18 Eylül – 16 Kas›m 2003 tarihleri aras›nda 8. Uluslararas› Istanbul Bienali’nde ifllerini sergileyecek. www.istfest.org Bored at home in his native Scottish countryside, Iain Foxall built a 170cm mountain using wire and plaster. A friend sent him the miniature plastic skiers in the post from London, which allowed Iain to start his stop frame animations with homemade camera tracks and a 35mm camera. This project and its title were inspired by the early 90s ski flick “License to Thrill”, apparently now impossible to find on video. Yerlisi oldu¤u ‹skoç k›rl›¤›ndaki evinde s›k›lan Iain Foxall, tel ve alç› kullanarak 170 cm’lik bir da¤ infla etti. Bir arkadafl›, Iain’a Londra’dan postayla, ev yap›m› kamera raylar› ve 35 mm kameras›yla stop frame animasyonlar yapmaya bafllamas›n› sa¤layan plastik minyatür kayakç›lar gönderdi. Bu proje ve isim, flu an videosu bulunmas› galiba imkans›z olan, "Licence to Thrill" isimli 90’lar›n kayak filminden esinlenmifl. bkz1.13. bkz. A conversation between Hettie Judah and Leyla Gediz 3rd September 2003 The original article about Leyla Gediz’s paintings written by Hettie Judah and discussed here, was published in the Art Section of the English Supplement of Time Out, Istanbul, June 2002. Hettie Judah is a writer and critic. Before moving to Turkey she wrote a weekly column in The Times arts pages and contributed to a number of other UK broadsheets as well as Dazed and Confused, The Modern Review and Prospect magazine. Since living in Istanbul she has been writing for Time Out Istanbul and Cornucopia. Leyla Gediz’s solo exhibition Keep It A Secret will be at Galerist 16th October – 15th November 2003. She will also be exhibiting in Organised Conflict at Proje4L Istanbul Museum of Contemporary Art, 22nd September – 22nd November 2003. bkz. Hettie Judah ile Leyla Gediz aras›nda bir söylefli 3 Eylül 2003 Hettie Judah taraf›ndan Leyla Gediz’in resimleri hakk›nda yaz›lan ve burda tart›fl›lan orijinal makale, Time Out dergisinin ‹ngilizce ekinin Sanat Bölümü’nde, Istanbul’da, 2002 Haziran say›s›nda yay›nland›. Hettie Judah, Cornucopia, Time Out Türkiye, The Times ve The Guardian Ingiltere yay›nlar›na katk›da bulunan bir yazar ve elefltirmendir. Leyla Gediz’in kiflisel sergisi S›r Küpü 16 Ekim – 15 Kas›m 2003 tarihleri aras›nda Galerist’te aç›lacak. Gediz, ayr›ca, 22 Eylül – 22 kas›m 2003 tarihleri aras›nda da Proje4L Istanbul Güncel Sanat Müzesi’ndeki Organize ‹htilaf sergisinde de yer alacak. . www.cornucopia.net www.timeoutistanbul.com ww.galerist.com.tr www.proje4l.org HJ Just before your last exhibition - about a year ago - I wrote a magazine piece about your work. The article provoked a really vicious response - as I subsequently found out the person who gave the response had their own agenda - but at the time it made me think quite a bit about criticism, and I worried that I had behaved irresponsibly towards you. I examined what I had written about you, and I thought about the relationship between the critic and the artist. I’d like to know how the experience was for you? LG It took me a while to really take in what you wrote; it wasn’t an easy read for me. I was very excited before I’d even started reading it - but I didn’t understand what the tone of it was and what it was trying to say; who it was addressing - maybe it was addressing an audience, or maybe it was addressing me? And that was interesting; it took me a few reads and after that I decided that it was quite critical. Of course it was the only review text that came out that had any kind of criticism in it and the point of that criticism was directly relating to the core of the exhibition. In situations like that I guess most artists - or anyone - would react in the same way; my first reaction was defensive. I thought that you had picked up on things I wanted to open up to discussion in the exhibition anyway, or that these were things that I was already aware of, or these were things that you had taken out of our conversation rather than the works themselves. I thought perhaps that it was the way I expressed myself that led to your conclusion [in the article] rather than the works’ themselves. That is the way that I became self-defensive; that was my first reaction. HJ I think there’s justification there, because it is difficult as a critic to know whether you address what you are writing to the artist or to the audience, and I am not sure that I knew myself at the time. Particularly because this is such a small artistic community; I thought that I probably would encounter you again, that inevitably our paths would cross in some way. And I suppose I felt on some level responsible as a factor in your career as an artist. I wanted to have some kind of dialogue with you, but at the same time I was writing for a public magazine. LG During our conversation I remember feeling in a disadvantageous position because I felt like I couldn’t show you everything as it should be; you remember I was still working on the paintings then. The thing is, after all, that your review was the only critical writing that came out, and I was impressed by that. Because of course, there is always this talk around town; everybody complains that there is not that much critical writing - particularly in contemporary art - going on in Turkey at the moment. There may be plenty of reasons for that, but you don’t expect yourself suddenly to be the one who is criticised! The thing about you is that you kept your distance throughout the conversation; it was something about you that I thought was quite professional. There is a problem with most reviewers that I have met, where that distance is being cut away right from the start. People don’t act professionally; people don’t act as the artist and the critic; they just want to act like two friends, or two people trying to be one. As if total agreement is what is desired. Which is an unfortunate conclusion because it removes the possibility of some sort of debate. Of course I wasn’t able to reply to your text until today. You were probably one of the very few people whose reaction to my new work was something that I really wanted to know. Because you had been openly critical; that triggered some curiosity on my part; I’m going to want to know what your reaction to my progress is going to be this time round. Today, before you came I read the text again. It was very interesting, because at the time my reaction was defensive. I was a little disturbed, certainly. But this time round there were points when I thought ‘she is actually probably right about this, or right about that’. It really changed. And I think with criticism sometimes it takes time. And that’s a risk on the part of other reviewers that I think they should take. In the long run, now that I look at your text and see that it contains quite a bit of truth, it is useful to me, because it is like holding a mirror to what I was representing back then. Looking back, for me, it’s a very valuable text to define that moment; looking back at my production and pointing out... its weaknesses, let’s put it that way. HJ Well, I would like to congratulate you on being extraordinarily generous spirited! What for me is really strange is that I didn’t think that I was being overtly critical. I thought that I gave an overwhelmingly positive review. Obviously it will be different from your point of view reading it. But from my perspective writing it, I knew that I liked what you were talking about, I liked the spirit of the work, but I felt that there was something within your work that you weren’t allowing to get to the surface. So I felt that I may have made one or two criticisms. It is very interesting to hear that it felt that harsh at the time. Given that, it is very big of you to feel that you could enter into a dialogue with me; I always assume that when people get what they think is a negative review they will look at it and just say ‘well fuck you’! LG No, I am not that sort of person! In any case, I take it as a challenge. Here I am, I am a painter; I am going to keep painting after this, just as I kept painting after that chat that we had. You were brave enough to write exactly what you thought about the work, to give your reaction, and to identify a problem, at least in the way I talk about my work. For me that honesty set a challenge. And I think that the thing I got defensive about the first time I read it was actually the truth; this point that you made about irony; that it could not be a route forward [towards freedom]. The exhibition itself was actually titled Fake Freedom; clearly I already knew that I wasn’t setting myself completely free in my work! So you had a point there. With that first exhibition there was a sense in which I was not exactly feeling free; and I had an attitude where I felt like that was all I could come up with under the circumstances. I am more optimistic now. It is more fun for me to make paintings now, perhaps. I remember you asking me why my paintings were black and white, why didn’t they have any colour? Now a lot of things that I found that I had excluded from the paintings for no reason are beginning to come back into the paintings. And I think that is proof of my setting myself more free. You were right about my insecurity. I think it is important for you to have been there to see what was going on, and what was lacking and what could have been better. What I needed to do was to open myself up more and get away from the institutional, Goldsmiths instincts. When I read the text today I thought that you were actually pointing to potential for these works to become better. I don’t really think that it was harsh criticism. Now I see that you were looking at the work and saw what the situation was then. And I think that is really what you should have done. HJ You picked up pretty much exactly what I wanted to do with that review. I thought you were somebody that had something really big going on inside of her; something waiting to burst out, but who hadn’t quite worked out how to turn the tap on correctly or project that in a way that pleased them or that they were confident in. I think that brings us to the key thing about criticism and having a healthy situation in which both critics and artists can work, which is that for criticism to work at all you actually need to be in an environment in which the art is strong enough to sustain it. For example, a week after I did the interview with you I wrote an interview with another artist in which I didn’t bother being critical at all. His stuff was fun, but it wasn’t powerful; it wasn’t important work. I didn’t get anything close to the strength of feeling I got in talking to you and looking at your work. So it felt important to be critical [with you] because I think there was something important there. Maybe this is part of the problem in Turkey. I don’t know this, it is just a suggestion, but is there currently the strength of artwork to sustain a body of criticism? LG It is a difficult question, because a lot of artists don’t seem to follow one agenda. Even in terms of disciplines or materials that they use, it just seems that things are coming and going out of fashion and artists seem to adapt themselves to these external conditions which are changing so often, so quickly and they have a concern to keep up with the things that are going on outside them. For me, for the large body of artists, that is the most important criticism to make; it is very difficult if you cannot look back over the artists’ productions; how will you be able to see where they are coming from and what they are trying to do? It is not so much a problem with the strength of the work itself, rather that artists seem to be working in one-offs. HJ I know what you mean. I remember pretty much the strongest work I have seen here in Istanbul was done as laser printed wallpaper; after I saw it I looked up other examples of the artist’s work and it looked as if it had been done by a completely different person. She had gone from wall mounted photographs to abstract sculptures; very strange. For me, what seems to be underlying all this is the idea of insecurity. People aren’t proud or content or secure in their artistic expression. Artists seem not to have the courage of their convictions required to do their own thing. Maybe they do need somebody coming in and being rude to them - maybe it would force them to say ‘Piss off! I’m going to do what I want!’ Maybe they need something to make them angry. LG They definitely need criticism, that’s for sure. HJ Bundan bir y›l kadar önce son sergin aç›l›rken çal›flmalar›n hakk›nda bir yaz› yazm›flt›m ve bu bir dergide yay›mlanm›flt›. Bir okuyucudan -sonradan anlafl›ld›¤› üzere ilgisiz bir davan›n sonucu olarakbeklenmedik ölçüde sald›rgan bir yan›t geldi. Fakat bu olay beni elefltiri yaz›n› üzerine s›f›rdan düflünmeye, ve sana karfl› sorumsuz davranm›fl olabilece¤im ihtimalini göze almaya zorlad›. Endifle içinde, yazd›¤›m metni bir kez daha gözden geçirdim, ve "Elefltirmen-sanatç› iliflkisi nas›l olmal›" sorusuna yan›t arad›m. Metnin senin üzerindeki etkilerini anlat›r m›s›n? LG Öncelikle, kolay bir okuma olmad› benim için. Gerçekten ne dedi¤ini anlamak biraz zaman ald›. Zaten henüz okumaya geçmeden heyecanland›m, dolay›s› ile mesaj›n tonunu ve içeri¤ini kavramakta epey zorland›m. Özellikle, kime hitaben yaz›ld›¤›n› anlayamad›m metnin, bir izleyici kitlesine mi yaz›lm›flt›, yoksa bana m› sesleniyordu? Bu ilginç bir noktayd›, fakat bir kaç okumadan sonra yaz›y› pekala elefltirel buldum. Tabii o s›ralarda hakk›mda ç›kan yegane elefltirel yaz› buydu. Üstelik metnin elefltirisi direkt serginin kalbine yönelikti. Bu gibi durumlarda her sanatç›n›n –ya da herkesin- verebilece¤i tepkiyi verdim; savunmaya geçtim. Zaten tart›flmaya açmak istedi¤im noktalara tak›ld›¤›n›, bilincimin d›fl›nda bir fley söylemedi¤ini, bir de eserlerin kendinden ziyade, görüflmemiz esnas›nda sarfetti¤im sözlere a¤›rl›k verdi¤ini düflündüm. Yani [metnin] ç›kar›m›nda, benim kendimi ifade etme biçimimin etkili olmufl olabilece¤ini düflündüm. Ve benzeri savunmalar, bunlar ilk tepkilerimdi. HJ Orada hakl› oldu¤un bir yer var bence. Bir elefltirmen olarak yazd›¤›n metin, sanatç›ya m› yoksa izleyicisine mi hitap ediyor, bunu bilmek zor, ve o s›ralar bunun yan›t›n› ben de bildi¤imi sanm›yorum. Bunun bir nedeni sanat camias›n›n küçüklü¤ü olabilir; sana tekrar rastlayabilece¤imi, ister istemez yollar›m›z›n örtüflece¤ini düflündüm. Ve san›r›m, senin sanat kariyerinde bir sorumlulu¤un da benim üzerime düfltü¤ünü hissettim. Seninle bir diyalo¤umuz olsun istedim, ancak ayn› zamanda bir dergi için yaz›yordum. LG Konuflmam›z s›ras›nda kendimi flanss›z hissetti¤imi hat›rl›yorum, sana herfleyi bitmifl haliyle gösterememenin ezikli¤ini yafl›yordum. Biliyorsun, o zaman hala resimlerin üzerinde çal›fl›yordum. Herfleye ra¤men, seninki ç›kan tek elefltirel yaz›yd›, ve bundan etkilenmifltim. Çünkü herkesin dilinde oldu¤u üzere, bu ülkede bir elefltiri k›tl›¤› var. Bunun pek çok nedeni olabilir. Ama tabii insan birdenbire elefltirilenin kendi olmas›n› beklemiyor! Seni farkl› ve profesyonel k›lan, en bafltan mesafeyi korumufl olmand›. Bugüne kadar tan›flt›¤›m yazarlarda gözlemledi¤im özellik ilk önce o mesafeyi k›rmaya yönelik gayretleri oldu. Bu hiç profesyonelce de¤il; kifliler elefltirmen ve sanatç› gibi de¤il de, bir bütüne varmaya çal›flan iki arkadafl gibi davran›yorlar, sanki hemfikir olmak amaçm›fl gibi. Ne yaz›k ki bu yol tart›flma kap›lar›n› kap›yor. Sana bugüne kadar bir yan›t veremedim. Fakat yeni ifllerime tepkisini en merak etti¤im insanlardan birisi sensin elbette. Aç›kça elefltirmifltin beni; bu da bende merak uyand›rd› tabii. Bu kez geliflmemi nas›l de¤erlendirece¤ini merak ediyorum. Bugün sen gelmeden o metni tekrar okudum. Çok ilginçti, çünkü zaman›nda beni savunmaya geçirmiflti. Mutlaka biraz rahats›z olmufltum. Fakat bu defa okudu¤umda bir kaç yerde birden hakl› olmufl olabilece¤ini gördüm. Tepkim gerçekten farkl›yd›. Düflündüm ki, elefltirinin ifllevselleflmesi bazen zaman al›yor. Bu da elefltirmenin almas› gereken bir risk. Uzun vadede, flimdi geriye dönüp metne bakt›¤›mda görüyorum ki pek çok gerçe¤i içeriyor. Bunun bana faydas› var, çünkü o zaman yans›tt›klar›ma bir ayna tutuyor. fiimdi art›k o an› tan›mlayan, üretimime ve -nas›l demelinoksanlar›na ›fl›k tutan de¤erli bir metin benim için. HJ O halde seni ola¤anüstü aç›kyüreklili¤in için kutlamak isterim! Benim için tuhaf olan, ben öylesine büyük bir elefltirellik sergiledi¤imi düflünmemifltim. Ben tepeleme olumlu bir gözlem getirdi¤imi düflünüyordum. Tabii ki senin okuman farkl› olmufltur. Ama benim aç›mdan bak›l›rsa, anlatt›klar›n hofluma gitmiflti, iflin ruhunu sevmifltim, fakat iflin içinde yüzeye ç›kmas›na izin vermedi¤in bir fleyler kald›¤›n› hissetmifltim. Bu nedenle bir veya iki elefltiride bulundu¤umu düflündüm. Sana böyle kat› geldi¤ini ö¤renmek gerçekten ilginç. Buna ra¤men benimle diyaloga girmeyi arzulaman senin büyüklü¤ün; ben san›rd›m ki, insanlar kötü bulduklar› bir elefltiriyle karfl›laflt›klar›nda siktiri çekerler! LG Hay›r, ben öyle biri de¤ilim! Bana göre bu üstesinden gelinmesi gereken bir zorluktur. Ressam›m ben, bir yere de gitmiyorum; nas›l ki o konuflmam›zdan önce de resim yap›yordum, bundan sonra da resim yapmaya devam edece¤im. Sen tastamam düflündü¤ünü yazmak cesaretini gösterdin, en az›ndan d›flavurumumda kendini gösteren bir probleme iflaret ettin. ‹çtenlikle, önüme afl›lmas› gereken bir engel ç›kard›n. Ve ilk okumada beni savunmaya geçiren fleyin asl›nda bir gerçeklik oldu¤unu düflünüyorum; senin flu ironi üzerine getirdi¤in yorum, yani ironinin [özgürlü¤e giden yolda] ilerlemeye araç olamayaca¤› gerçekli¤i. Zaten serginin ad› Sahte Özgürlük’tü; besbelli ki, kendimi tümüyle serbest b›rakmad›¤›m›n bilincindeydim! Dolay›s› ile hakl›yd›n. O ilk sergiden kendimi tümüyle özgür hissetmeyiflim okunuyordu: ve bu flartlarda yapabildi¤imin en fazlas›n› ortaya koyan bir tav›r vard›. fiimdi daha olumluyum. Belki flimdi daha bir zevkle resim yap›yorum. Bana resimlerimin neden siyah-beyaz oldu¤unu sordu¤unu hat›rl›yorum, niçin renk yoktu? Daha önce nedensizce d›flarda b›rakt›¤›m ö¤elerin flimdi resmime girdi¤ini görüyorum. Bu da özgürleflti¤imin bir kan›t›. Güvensizli¤im konusunda hakl›yd›n. Neler olup bitti¤ini, nelerin eksik oldu¤unu, ve neyin daha iyi olabilece¤ini görmek aç›s›ndan orada olman çok önemliydi. Yapmam gereken kendimi açmak ve Goldsmiths’in kurumsal içgüdülerinden ar›nmakt›. Bugün metni yeniden okudu¤umda, elimden ç›kan›n daha da iyileflme imkan›na iflaret etti¤ini gördüm. Kat› elefltiri oldu¤unu düflünmüyorum. ‹fllere bakt›¤›n›, durumu yans›tt›¤›n›, ve yapman gerekenin de zaten bu oldu¤unu düflünüyorum. HJ O yaz›dan beklediklerimin tümünü sayd›n neredeyse. Ben seni, içinde d›flar› ç›kmay› bekleyen büyük fleyler tafl›yan biri olarak gördüm, fakat henüz t›pay› açman›n yolunu bulamam›fl gibiydin, ya da seni tümüyle tatmin edecek d›flavuruma ulaflamam›fl gibi. San›r›m bu da bizi elefltirinin temel kriterine getiriyor. Elefltirinin ifllevini yerine getirebilmesi ve hem sanatç› hem de elefltirmen aç›s›ndan sa¤l›kl› bir zemine oturmas› için, öncelikle sanatç›n›n üretiminin elefltiri kald›rabilecek güçte olmas› gerekiyor. Örne¤in, seninle görüflmemizden bir hafta sonra di¤er bir sanatç› hakk›nda bir yaz› daha yazd›m, ve ona elefltirel yaklaflma gere¤i duymad›m bile. Yap›tlar› e¤lendiriciydi, ancak güçlü de¤illerdi; önemli sanat eserleri say›lamazlard›. Seninle konuflman›n ve senin eserlerini görmenin bende b›rakt›¤› izlenimin yan›na yaklaflamad›lar. Bu nedenle seni ele al›rken elefltirel davranmak gere¤ine inand›m, çünkü sende önemli bir fleyler vard›. Bu, Türkiye’de karfl›m›za ç›kan sorunun bir parças› olabilir. Bildi¤imi iddia etmiyorum, bu yaln›zca bir fikir, fakat sence bugün burada elefltiriyi ayakta tutacak güçte sanat eserleri üretiliyor mu? LG Bu zor bir soru, çünkü sanatç›lar›n pek ço¤u tek bir izlek takip etmiyor. Düflünsel olsun, malzeme olsun, pek çok seçim h›zla ve s›kl›kla moda olup kayboluyor. Bunlar sanatç›n›n d›fl›nda geliflen fleyler, ancak bir çok sanatç› her an üretimini kendinin d›fl›nda cereyan eden geçici de¤erlere uydurmak için çaba sarfediyor. Bana göre en acil elefltiriyi bu tav›ra sahip sanatç›lar hakkediyor. Geriye dönüp, bir sanatç›n›n nereden gelip nereye gitti¤ini anlayamamak, üretimlerini özetleyememek elefltiri aç›s›ndan büyük bir zorluk. Eserlerin gücüne de¤il, tek bafllar›na havada as›l› kalmalar›na dair bir sorun var. HJ Ne demek istedi¤ini biliyorum. ‹stanbul’da gördü¤üm ve hat›r›mda kalan en güçlü iflin malzemesi lazerbask› duvarka¤›d›yd›. Bunu gördükten sonra sözkonusu sanatç›n›n di¤er eserlerini araflt›rd›m; önüme ç›kanlar sanki bambaflka biri taraf›ndan üretilmiflti. Duvarda as›l› duran foto¤raflardan soyut heykellere kadar; çok tuhaft›. Bana göre bütün bunlar›n alt›nda güvensizlik yat›yor. Sanatsal d›flavurumlar›ndan emin olmayan, onur duymayan, tatmini bulamam›fl sanatç›lar var. Kiflisel inançlar› do¤rultusunda kendi yollar›n› belirleyecek cesarete sahip olmayan sanatç›lar. Belki de birinin ç›k›p onlara kabal›k etmesi gerekiyor – bu sayede, "Git bafl›mdan! Ben ne istiyorsam onu yapaca¤›m!" diyebilirler. Belki de onlar› k›zd›r›cak bir fleye ihtiyaçlar› var. LG Elefltiriye ihtiyaçlar› oldu¤u muhakkak. bkz1.14. bkz. Emre Do¤ru bkz1.15. bkz. bkz. Andrew Wightman andrew@differentthings.com www.differentthings.com bkz1.16. bkz. bkz. Oz Photographs / Foto¤raflar Emre Do¤ru A few weeks ago, Oz said something about being on a bike and how you could have two people on different bikes listening to different music on their Walkmans. One, “for instance”, could be listening to Iron Maiden, and the other could be listening to trance. The point of his illustration had something to do with the fact that people might be listening to different music on a bike, but the bike remains. There is a song in there somewhere. Birkaç hafta önce Oz, iki farkl› insan›n ayr› bisikletlerde walkman’lerinde farkl› müzik dinlemeleriyle ilgili birfleyler söyledi. Örnek olarak, bir tanesi Iron Maiden, bir di¤eri ise trance dinliyor olabilir. Yapt›¤› illüstrayonun amac›, insanlar bisikletlerinde degiflik müzik dinleseler de, bisikletin esas kalmas›yd›. Orada biryerlerde bir flark› var. bkz1.17. . .1.18 Tremorcity, 2001 Transcribed by Serkan Özkaya with participation from Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Vasif Kortun, Huseyin Alptekin, Gülsün Karamustafa and Eric Goengrich. Excerpt from discussion about the concept of "the rumour" in contemporary art production that took place at Refika in September 2001. This work was previously shown at Proje4L in a talk by Hans-Ulrich Obrist; in “Mutations : Rumour City” at Probe in Tokyo and at “Blanges Neige” at Centre Nationale de la Photographie in Paris. Serkan Özkaya’s solo exhibition Minerva Street will be at Galerist 11th September – 11th October 2003. Özkaya is also exhibiting in the 2003 Tirana Biennale which opens on 12th September 2003 and has been co-curated by Vasif Kortun. Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Vas›f Kortun, Hüseyin Alptekin, Gülsün Karamustafa ve Eric Goengrich’in kat›l›m›yla gerçekleflen söylefli Serkan Özkaya taraf›ndan kaydedildi. 2001 y›l›n›n Eylül ay›nda Refika’da gerçekleflen güncel sanat üretimindeki "dedikodu flehir" konseptiyle ilgili panel-söylefliden bir pasaj. Serkan Özkaya’n›n kiflisel sergisi "Minerva Caddesi" 11 Eylül – 11 Ekim 2003 tarihleri aras›nda Galerist’te gerçekleflecek. Özkaya, ayr›ca, yard›mc› küratörlü¤ü Vas›f Kortun taraf›ndan üstlenilen, 12 Eylül 2003’te bafllayacak olan Tirana Bienali’nde de yer alacak. . www.galerist.com.tr www.tiranabiennale.org -Happy hour. -So we stayed the whole night outside. Two cars, tent everything my house is right there and we’re like ‘where shall we park the car you know if half of the land splits?’ this is OK but you know, the whole city spent the night outside. -Picnic, the whole city is making picnic. -Yea I was. -Were you outside that night? -Uh huh. -You were? Were you outside that night? -No green spaces. -I mean we were all outside that night. -Picnic. -It’s incredible. -Picnic. People are picnicking. -You know. -And the. -One of the ideas of the rumour city. -That’s right -Rumours and everything. -Earthquake stone. There’s no shaking. Nothing happened actually. There were no aftershocks that night. Nothing. -Government says no picnic tonight. -Nobody made any explantion afterwards you know. Making people stay out all night. -Because all of them you know cannot. -we know that we need this you know. -They said ‘OK, it’s over, you can go now’. -we need this public touch, solidarity or whatever. Picnic. -Happy hour. -Böylece bütün geceyi d›flarda geçirdik. ‹ki araba, çad›r, her fley, evim iflte orda ve biz "arabay› nereye park edelim, hem biliyorsun, ya toprak ikiye ayr›l›rsa?" diyoruz. Tamam bu olabilir, ama bildi¤in gibi tüm flehir geceyi d›flarda geçiriyor. -Piknik, tüm flehir piknik yap›yor. -Evet, öyle yap›yordum. -H› h›. -Sen? Sen d›flarda m›yd›n o gece? -Yeflil alanlar yok. -Demek istedi¤im, o gece herkes d›flardayd›. -Piknik -‹nan›lmaz. -Piknik. ‹nsanlar piknik yap›yor. -Biliyorsun... -Ve. -Dedikodu flehri fikirlerinden biri. -Do¤ru. -Dedikodu ve her fley. -Deprem. Hiçbir sallant› yok. Gerçekten hiçbir fley olmad›. Artç› depremler olmad› o gece. Hiçbir fley. -Devlet bu gece piknik yok dedi. -Bildi¤in gibi kimse daha sonra bir aç›klama yapmad›. ‹nsanlar› bütün gece d›flarda tutmalar›. -Çünkü onlar›n hepsi, bildi¤in gibi, yapamazlar. -Buna ihtiyac›m›z oldu¤unu biliyoruz, biliyorsun. -"Tamam, her fley bitti, gidebilirsiniz flimdi" dediler. -Bu halksal temas, dayan›flma ya da her neyse, ona ihtiyac›m›z vard›. Piknik. . Can and Deniz Altay Bu görsel, Can ve Deniz Altay’›n Garanti Modern Sanat Merkezinde 10 temmuz 2003 tarihinde Mekan Yaratmak isimli sergisinden bir detayd›r. Çal›flma Ankara’da mini-bar kullan›c›lar› ve sanatç›lar aras›ndaki konuflmalardan al›nm›fl bölümlerden oluflmaktad›r. Galeriyi ziyaret edenler çal›flmalar hakk›ndaki görüfllerini yazmalar› için davet edilmifltir. Can Altay 18 Eylül –16 Kas›m 2003 tarihleri aras›nda 8,‹stanbul bienalinde bir sergi açacakt›r.Kendisi yak›n bir zamanda Minneapolis Walk Art Center’da How Latitudes Become Forms adl› bir sergi açm›fl olup bu sergi halen internasyonel olarak turdad›r. The image is a detail from Can and Deniz Altay’s installation created for the exhibition Making Space at Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center, 10 July – 7 August 2003. The installation consisted of printed extracts from conversations between the artists and users of the mini-bars in Ankara, Turkey. In the gallery the public were invited to add to the display by writing up their own comments and thoughts about topics raised by the work. . Can Altay is exhibiting in the 8th International Istanbul Biennial 18th September - 16th November 2003. He recently exhibited work on the same topic of the mini-bar culture at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis in How Latitudes Become Forms, an exhibition that is now on international tour. www.istfest.org www.latitudes.walkerart.org bkz1.19. bkz.1.21 bkz. Why is there no institution of cultural critique in Turkey? A question that has been posed throughout the history of the Republic, mainly by a number of scholars who resented their social isolation, and maintained the cunning implication that the only critics were actually them, nobody else: ‘what would happen if I didn't exist?’ Defining a culture through something it lacks, is a trap in itself, in which the lacking environment gets sentenced to trailing the culture it has taken as a model. It is not the wisest solution to find the correct or preferable path through negation. Each moment we live offers us countless fluid energies which can, in turn, lead us beyond the constraints imposed on us by our own objects of analysis, and towards risky, painful but also pleasureable routes. Three sources help me to breathe in the sticky atmosphere of Istanbul. The first one is the Aç›k Radyo, which inherited the experience of independent radio stations that appeared at the beginning of the nineties, along with the commercial ones. The first private radio station Kent FM and later Hür FM (during its first broadcasting period before it was slaughtered by the loathsome media figure Ertu¤rul Özkök) were examples of alternative media which could offer both, an unofficial political stance and a non-mainstream, even experimental, music range. For the last seven years Aç›k Radyo has been defending this position of civic independence by combining news monitoring that goes well beyond the national boundaries, educational programmes, hours given to certain civil society organisations and quality music. Cultural knowledge and understanding is not being encouraged by the academies in Istanbul these days. For a long time alternative magazines and publishing houses carry the function of criticality. In the mid-nineties Express, fiizofrengi and some other free magazines fostered the articulation of various modes of radicalities that could bypass the conventions of Marxist orthodoxies. Today, Roll and PostExpress continue the necessary project of combining cultural production and political realm together. The other source of radical thinking is based in three publishing houses, which helped the Turkish intelligentsia to escape the grips of militaristic, and later nationalist repressions of the last two decades: Ayr›nt›, ‹letiflim and Metis. In addition to their remarkable effort in translating important works on social theory, these independent ventures promoted researchers working on the social experience of Turkish particularity. One of the most influential of these figures is without doubt Y›ld›r›m Türker, a writer who never refrains from providing biting edge satires referencing the most protected political taboos and the most dangerous players in the public domain. His text on Memed A¤ar (the ex-head of Security Department, the father of bloody anti-terror squads, the ex-minister of Justice and ex-Home Secretary and now the leader of Do¤ru Yol Party) will always be remembered as one of the most brilliant examples of actualisation of potential radicality. Hence, the task is not to mourn but to intensify. Neden kültürel alanda bir elefltiri kurumu geliflmedi Türkiye'de? Cumhuriyet tarihi boyunca soruldu galiba bu soru ve en çok kendi toplumsal yal›t›lm›fll›klar›ndan usanan ve asl›nda etrafta elefltiri üreten tek kiflinin kendileri oldu¤unu ima ededuran, 'ben olmasayd›m memleketin hali ne olurdu?' demeye getiren akademisyenler taraf›ndan. Bir kültürü eksiklikler ya da yokluklar üzerinden tan›mlamak kolayca bir tuza¤a saplanabiliyor; eksiklik görülen ortam, model olarak ald›¤› kültürün arkas›ndan yürümüye mahkum ediliyor sonsuza dek. Do¤ru ya da tercih edilir olan yolu bulmak için de¤illemelere baflvurmak pek zekice bir çözüm de¤il oysa. Elefltirel yaz›m giriflimlerini ele ald›klar› nesnenin s›n›rlar› içine hapsolmaktan kurtaracak ve riskli, sanc›l› ama haz da içeren yörüngelere oturtabilecek say›s›z enerji geçip duruyor önümüzden her an. ‹stanbul üzerindeki a¤›r hava kitlesi içinde solumay› mümkün k›lan üç fley var, kendi ad›ma konuflmam gerekirse. Bunlardan ilki, doksanlar›n bafl›nda aç›lan özel radyolar aras›nda ba¤›ms›z tutumlar›yla fark oluflturabilmifl radyo kanallar›n›n deneyimini miras alan Aç›k Radyo. Resmi siyasal çizgiden ayr›labilen ve ayn› zamanda ortayolculu¤un d›fl›na taflan, deneysel bir müzik yelpazesine yer veren alternatif medyaya örnek olarak, ilk özel radyo kanal› olan Kent FM ve daha sonraki bir döneme ait Hür FM (ideolojinin en lanet figürlerinden Ertu¤rul Özkök'ün müdahalesi öncesindeki o par›lt›l› ilk yay›n dönemimde) kalm›fl belle¤imde. Aç›k Radyo yedi y›la yak›n bir süredir benzer bir çizgiyi sürdürüyor; ulusal s›n›rlar›n d›fl›na ç›kabilen bir haber anlay›fl›n›, e¤itici nitelikte programlar›, sivil toplum örgütlerine ayr›lan saatleri ve iyi müzi¤i yanyana getiriyor. Kültürel alana iliflkin bilgi ve kuram›n, elefltirelli¤in üretildi¤i yerler üniversiteler de¤il, alternatif dergiler ve kimi yay›nevleri, uzun bir zamand›r. Doksanl› y›llar›n ortalar›nda Express, fiizofrengi ve di¤er baz› ba¤›ms›z dergiler farkl› radikallik biçimlerini Marxist ortodoksiler taraf›ndan üretilmifl kal›plar›n d›fl›nda gelifltirmeyi baflarm›fllard›. Bugün Roll ve Post- Express dergileri kültürel üretim ve siyasal alan› yanyana düflünme gibi önemli bir projeyi halen sürdürmekteler. Radikal düflünüflün di¤er kayna¤›n›, militarist ve sonras›nda milliyetçi bask›larla geçmifl yirmi küsür y›l süresince tutarl› bir çizgi izlemifl üç yay›n evi oluflturuyor: Ayr›nt›, ‹letiflim and Metis. Toplumsal kurama dair önemli yap›tlar› çevirme konusunda gösterdikleri dikkat çekici baflar›lar›n yan› s›ra, bu ba¤›ms›z yay›m giriflimleri Türkiye özgüllü¤ü üzerine e¤ilmifl araflt›rmac›lara da destek olageldi bu dönem içinde. Bu isimler içinde en etkin olanlardan biri, keskin kalemini, en s›k› biçimde muhafaza edilen siyasal tabular ve kamusal alana hakim olan tehlikeli tipler üzerinde oyantmaktan çekinmeyen Y›ld›r›m Türker kuflkusuz. Örne¤in, yak›n dönemde, doksanl› y›llardaki devlet terörünün bafl mimar› olmufl Memed A¤ar üzerine yazd›¤› köfleyaz›s› radikallik potansiyelinin gerçekli¤e tercüme edildi¤i en cesur örneklerinden biri olarak hat›rlanacak hep. Sözün k›sas›, yap›lmas› gereken olamayan üzerine yaz›klanmak de¤il, elde olana yo¤unluk katmak. Emre Do¤ru bkz1.20. bkz. bkz. Translation of graffiti / Grafitinin Tercümesi “If you leave your trash here you are gay” Cukurcuma Caddesi, ‹stanbul Photograph / Foto¤raf Andrew Foxall bkz. Erden Kosova 1.22. . Montage / Montaj Andrew Foxall bkz.1.23 Initiated, edited and designed by Andrew Foxall and November Paynter Andrew Foxall is from Edinburgh in Scotland and moved here 2 years ago to work with a Turkish friend that he had met while studying fashion design on the Master Programme at Domus Academy in Milan, Italy. In March 2003 he started a new creative initiative based in Cukurcuma called 20ML with four photographer / producer friends where he is the creative director for projects. Since being here he has directed Biz magazine, as well as art directing other publications and producing catalogues for fashion brands both in Turkey and abroad. Within 20ML he also runs creative consultancy, which takes the form of think tanks, future design and strategy workshops for creative industries. November Paynter came to work as a curator at Platform Contemporary Art Center, Istanbul in September 2002 following the completion a masters in curating at the Royal College of Art London. Since arriving at Platform she has curated three exhibitions with a number of young international artists working in a variety of media – they were Coming Up, Zenith and most recently Making Space. In June 2003 November was awarded the Premio Lorenzo Bonaldi Per L’Arte Enter Prize and her winning exhibition proposal Another Zero, will be realised at the Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Bergamo, Italy this December. Her current project We’ll meet you in the lobby, is a collaboration with fellow RCA curator Joanna Stella-Sawicka and consists of a selection of artists’ recordings on vinyl, available to play throughout the Istanbul Biennial in the Lobby at the Büyük Londra Oteli, ‹stanbul. November is the Istanbul Correspondent for Contemporary magazine and also writes for Time Out Istanbul, ArtReview and Parachute. bkz. www.beekayzed.com Thanks Can Altay Deniz Altay Evrim Altu¤ Bahad›r Baflaran Jaime Bishop Steve Bryant Pavel Büchler Emre Do¤ru Cevdet Erek Köken Ergun Andy Footner Iain Foxall Leyla Gediz Hettie Judah Vasif Kortun Erden Kosova Paul Noble It›r Onur Oz Serkan Özkaya Ceren Özp›nar Öykü Özsoy Craig Robertson, Flip Flop Flyin’ Scanner aka Robin Rimbaud Grace Spooner Jo Stella-Sawicka Ertan Uça Andrew Wightman Tolga Arhan Ahmet Translations Bahadir Baflaran Steve Bryant Ceren Özp›nar Öykü Özsoy bkz. bkz. 1.24.bkz. z. . bkz. is all about its audience and future issues will be inspired by your contributions. / bkz. tamamen okuyucular› hakk›ndad›r. Gelecek say›lara katk›lar ilhan verecektir. contact@beekayzed.com z. .