Dilemma of daily life questioned through art

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

Gülşah Bayraktar

As a curator Mehmet Kahraman aims to question the modern life and the present time through the philosophical approach of Jacques Derrida. His new exhibition titled Dilemma, which is on display in Mixer Art in Istanbul emphasizes Derrida’s approach to the system and existence in it. In this sense Kahraman likes to thinks that people can exist and live in any kind of system even if there is pressure or restraint. “Thinking about this makes me to reassess the realities of the system and the modern life that we are living in,” he said.

The present times require many vital moments to make decisions and each moment is a time to decide, he said.

According to Kahraman the restraints and pressures cause a kind of anxiety in this decision-making process and this anxiety may cause a dilemma. Kahram aims to reveal the dilemma that is caused by the anxiety in the society. “The visitors may feel this anxiety in them and question their own dilemmas after they see this exhibition,” he added.

Kahraman preferred to use an installation of works that lead the visitors to be engaged to the show. “While the visitor wanders among the works in the gallery I wanted them to feel the dilemma that they are facing each day,” he said.

“Trapped in the confinements of our era, we are progressively getting isolated day to day. Things we experienced through this indefinite state of time, past and future, our feelings and knowledge, lose their meanings and push us to a horizon, yet we are still trying to understand how to define ourselves. Dilemma follows this perpetual journey hoping to find a way out.”

The exhibition includes works by Burçak Konukman, Çınar Eslek, Erdal İnci, Gülşah Bayraktar, Kerem Ağralı, Ozan Türkkan, Saniye Dönmez and Tuba Yalçınkaya.

Scenes from different lives

While Kerem Ağralı’s paintings depicting dissimilar yet parallel worlds of the figurative and the surreal; Gülşah Bayraktar’s pictorial stories revealing scenes from different lives. Ozan Türkkan’s interactive video installation visualizing decision-making via numerous probabilities, Erdal İnci’s GIF-like video duplicating himself in space and time continuum; Çınar Eslek’s photographs visualizing his own soul in the course of flows of change; Tuba Yalçınkaya’s illustrations showing psychological and emotional changes of an individual making decisions; Saniye Dönmez’s collage redefining the persona in an unfamiliar environment; and Burçak Konukman’s performance on self- questioning; allowing viewers to face their own dilemmas, while providing questions to echo in their minds.

Kahraman has scrutinized the artists’ works for a long time. “I think their productions are somewhat related to the subject,” he added. The artists in the exhibition work in different disciplines and this is an important aspect for an exhibition according to Kahraman.

“It is also very important for me to make the exhibition in Mixer because the gallery aims to give a chance to young artists.”

Kahraman was inspired from Gregg Araki’s film “The Doom Generation’’ (1995). The movie is about characters choosing their own way in life.

The exhibition that started on Jan. 3 continues until February and as part of the exhibition, on Jan. 18, Burçak Konukman will perform “Caution! Wet Floor” and on Feb. 2, there will be a guided exhibition tour conducted by the curator Mehmet Kahraman.