(please slide the images)
'Çark*' was made due to my observation on the streets/public-spaces of
Beyoğlu**( a municipality in İstanbul). With this work, I thought about the hypocrisy at the intersection of the street and sexuality.
The process of this work has been going on since I attended the Daire Artist in Residency Program Hasköy/Beyoğlu***.
I started the process by documenting the (male-dominated) sex working and queer-cruising areas. In this direction, I tried to emphasize sexuality that it's existing on the streets is denied. Also, I wanted to express this sexuality's percolation through the tabus and giving obscene meanings to the "normal" acts of the places where it exists. Besides, I wanted to trace the individuality that is remained from
hypocrite behaviors.
* 'Çark' means cruising(for sex) in the queer slang/language (Lubunca). The literal meaning in the Turkish Language is cogwheel.
** Beyoğlu is a politicly important and intercultural municipality in İstanbul:
*** The program is co-founded by the European Union and the Republic of Turkey. It happened in 9 different cities in Turkey.
The work consists of 6 videos, 3 objects and 2 digital print collage.
The objects are still in work and progress.
The Videos are below:
Videos are shown as a loop.
Object I:
50-50-200cm MDF and concrete coating (please slide the images)
The video can be watched from the small hole on the object.
Object II:
55-78-35 cm MDF and concrete coating (please slide the images)
The video can be watched from the holes on the object.
The nectared dessert on the video is one of the popular street food in Turkey. It called 'Kerhane Tatlısı' which means - with a word to word translation- 'brothel dessert'. It is quite possible to find it in front of almost all the brothels in Turkey. Thus it has been named like that.
It is rumored that people prefer to eat that to get energy before having sex.
Object III (shed):
157-170-150 cm MDF, flexkleber/concrete coating, miror glass and doorhandle and hinges
(please slide the images)
The form of this object comes from a small house/building* is placed in one of the -popular- queer cruising areas. In the night, despite street lamps' light, it is possible to find a hidden and unseen place in the shade of the building.
The audience can go in and observe outside yet they can be also observed from the unfunctional "keyhole". Thus, I want to invite visitors to an observation cycle.
Because of the object's dimension, it is not so possible to act inside in an upright position. By this means, I want to make the audience change their stance from watching stance to hiding stance.
*The building can be seen on one of the three videos.
Collages
This collage(upper-left),
is consisting of two images that have been taken by me and a found image. Images are taken in Berlin in a cruising toilet that has a glory-hole. Thus, I wanted to emphasize my production process(Berlin to İstanbul) and the hole-metaphor of the objects.
With this collage(lower-right),
I tried to refer to the sex-working industry in İstanbul and it's memory.
Detailed images of the collages(please slide the images).
The collages are printed from two A2 size paper.
Special thanks to Ilyas Hayta for the video shoots.