@e_flux wrote:
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At the LA Review of Books, Kaya Genç interviews artist Halil Altındere and writer Süreyyya Evren—both Turkish—about their massive new book User’s Manual 2.0: Contemporary Art in Turkey 1975–2015. An excerpt:
Let’s talk about some of the works, preferably more controversial and striking ones, featured in the Manual.
SE: Sure! I would mention Necla Rüzgar’s “Bloody Mary” (2007) which depicts two women, in head scarves, kissing each other on the lips. It looks very much like Banksy’s gay cops but this time, it features two Muslim women. In Şükran Moral’s “Hamam” (1997) a photo shows the artist, naked, in a Turkish bath; she is only wearing a towel and is surrounded with many relaxed and semi-naked men. The artist is very relaxed and confident here, and poses as if she is among friends. It challenges orientalist fantasies based around Turkish baths and women in them, and also problematizes local sexual fantasies, which are quite macho. In Burak Arıkan’s “Networks of Dispossession” (2013) we get a digital map of Turkey’s business networks through which people’s dispossession is made possible. It is a very political work that invites audiences to learn more about property-related issues in Turkey. Or take Antonio Cosentino’s “Tin City” (2009–2013) which features an imaginary tin city made up of tin cans found on the street, from rubbish bins. Those tin buildings refer to imaginary buildings taken from novels and the artist’s own imagination. It offers a totally new city Cosentino has built out of “nothing.” Finally, Burak Delier’s “Collector’s Wish” (2012) is a special project based on the role of artist today. It is an ironic work that shows how artists are not really free in their dealings within the contemporary art world. It is based on the idea that the artist is forced to do whatever the collector wishes her to do.
Did you have a more international audience in mind while curating the new Manual?
SE: While preparing the first edition, we had a more local audience in mind. Once it was out, we realized how mistaken we were. In fact, the actual readers of such a book is international in scope. So while preparing the second edition we knew it was time to go international. Now, it is the case that even if we intend to prepare a book on Turkish contemporary art for a local audience, the resultant book is embraced by an international audience and finds its true meaning in the global arena.
HA: Turkey’s contemporary art scene began to internationalize from the beginning of the 1990s. It works like this: they first make appearances in Turkey and then get recognition in Europe. Then comes venues like the São Paulo and Venice Biennials. In October, I visited Los Angeles where I was invited for a studio visit at the California Institute of Arts. I went to CalArts and left a copy of the Manual there. To my utter surprise, art students of CalArts were familiar not only with the artists we included in the Manual but also with their key works. It seemed to me like the Manual had worked, after all.
Image: A page from User’s Manual 2.0: Contemporary Art in Turkey 1975–2015.
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